Embracing competition, Penn State tight ends battle to make mark
The natural pecking order at tight end has been evident for some time. A point of pride for Penn State position coach Ty Howle, the evolution can be tracked before he took over in 2021. In fact, it goes back as far as his playing career with the Nittany Lions.
Most recently, Theo Johnson was selected by the New York Giants in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Brenton Strange had the same honor as a second-round pick in 2023. Pat Freiermuth went to the Steelers in the second round in 2021. Mike Gesicki in 2018. Jesse James in 2015.
Within that point of pride for Howle, though, is something embraced in the same vein culturally for the position group. Encouraging and fostering competition as an avenue toward individual and group development, the battle for opportunity spans the top of the depth chart to the bottom.
“These dudes, they compete with each other nonstop,” Howle said this spring. “From my house at dinners or H-O-R-S-E on a little kid’s basketball goal. But, we grade everything, we can chart everything. They take pride in who graded out the best at practice and go back and forth about it. It’s good.”
Embracing competition at Penn State
For the 2024 season at Penn State, the point is especially relevant.
With Johnson off to the NFL, Tyler Warren returns as the de facto top dog in the room. He’s appeared extensively for the Nittany Lions over the past four seasons, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors last year thanks to his 34 catches for 422 yards and seven touchdowns.
Pointing to Warren’s history with the program, seeing Freiermuth, Strange, and Johnson in action, and now setting the same example and standard for his younger peers, Howle says that presence is important.
“With Tyler, he was there a year after Brenton. So, he’s been through a lot of it,” said Howle. “He’s able to maintain the standard and help the guys. He’s able to teach them and show them the way that we do things. So that’s been huge for their development.”
At its heart, that way is straightforward for the group this season. Demanding that players create a versatile unit that can contribute in the run game, pass game, and protections, Howle labels the idea “a triple threat.” Being able to affect the game in those three areas as paramount to the operation, its successful implementation dictates more than the pecking order for playing time within the unit.
Rather, for a program setting its course under the direction of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, it also dictates the role of the unit within the system.
Next steps
Already a program that has demonstrated its use of two or three tight ends in each game, Howle perceived Penn State’s recent spring practices as an opportunity to show the extent the group can and should be utilized this fall.
“I think that’s one of the best things that we have in our room is our guys are selfless. They want to compete with each other. Don’t get me wrong, they all want the same thing. But they know that they need each other to make it happen,” said Howle. “They also know that we’re competing against other physician groups for how many of us will play. Coach Franklin says all the time, he’s going to put the best personnel out there. Obviously, there are times to be varied with it and all that. But, they’re competing against other rooms too. And, they take pride in that as well.
“So they push each other. They know we’ve got a long season. They need each other. To go where we want to go, it’s going to take more than just one guy who’s the Alpha. You need multiple guys, and we’ve seen that here in the past with our tight end room.”
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The post Embracing competition, Penn State tight ends battle to make mark appeared first on On3.
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