Was Tyler Warren Penn State's all-time greatest tight end?
- Thread starter saturdaysarebetter
- Start date
For a single season probably. Don’t know if he was as good over his tenure at Penn State as Ted Kwalik.
No. Kyle Brady was a better all around TE at a time when the game was played with more physicality.
Following PSU football since the 60's and the answer is yes, followed by Kwalick and Brady.
"He's what God had in mind when He created a football player." - Joe Paterno on Ted Kwalick.
I think Warren is a great young man and a freak athlete. And I think Kyle Brady was just a little bit better. Both terrific TEs.
You can't take Brady's title till you play at a high level in the pros for 13 years.
You can't take Brady's title till you play at a high level in the pros for 13 years.
This is one time where I would say I have never seen a tight end do what he did this year for a team. Absolutely amazing. Would he be called more of a utility player because that is what really made him dynamic. Without him we don’t make the playoffs this year!
Last edited:
Kyle Brady PSU Stats
| Receiving | Rushing | Scrimmage | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Y/G | Att | Yds | TD | Y/G | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD | Awards |
| 1991 | Penn State | Ind | TE | 12 | 14 | 175 | 12.5 | 4 | 14.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 14 | 175 | 12.5 | 4 | ||
| 1992 | Penn State | Ind | TE | 11 | 9 | 118 | 13.1 | 1 | 10.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 9 | 118 | 13.1 | 1 | ||
| 1993 | Penn State | Big Ten | TE | 11 | 26 | 282 | 10.8 | 2 | 25.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 26 | 282 | 10.8 | 2 | ||
| 1994 | Penn State | Big Ten | TE | 11 | 27 | 365 | 13.5 | 2 | 33.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 27 | 365 | 13.5 | 2 | ||
| Career | 45 | 76 | 940 | 12.4 | 9 | 20.9 |
IMO no contest, Warren was the greatest
Brady was used mostly as a blocker, Kwalick was a better receiver than Brady.
Kwalick stats
Over his Penn State career, Kwalick caught 86 passes for 1,343 yards and 10 touchdowns, setting school tight end records for yards and touchdowns. He ran 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. He averaged 17.1 yards per catch in 1966 and 1967, and 13 yards per catch in 1968.
Brady was used mostly as a blocker, Kwalick was a better receiver than Brady.
Kwalick stats
Over his Penn State career, Kwalick caught 86 passes for 1,343 yards and 10 touchdowns, setting school tight end records for yards and touchdowns. He ran 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. He averaged 17.1 yards per catch in 1966 and 1967, and 13 yards per catch in 1968.
Not really the same position it once was. I’m just thankful we have had the run of good ones, with some promise for more.
Me too. Kwalik was Penn State’s first two time All American my friend; first team his junior year snd and a unanimous selection his senior year. Love Warren but give me Kwalik.
I think Kyle Brady was probably a better all-around TE, but Brady was overshadowed by the fact that everyone on that team was an NFL talent.
I can’t get behind that sentiment. I’d be more receptive to backing the view that Kyle was a better pure blocker, particularly in tight. He was nothing special in terms of YAC - if you hit him low he generally went down. Ty is 10x better in space as a receiver/ball carrier, and probably as good in terms of blocking out there.
Still, one of my enduring PSU football memories is of Brady collapsing the Illinois DL like a row of dominoes.
Joe never saw Warren play!
I think Warren is best TE of all time and think he ranks right up there with best Penn State football player of all time.
I'm a huge Brady fan and still get misty eyed when I think of the '94 offense, but I'm going with Warren on this one. Plus Warren performed his receiving heroics when everyone on the field (on both sides) knew we had no credible options at WR.
Good point. ‘94 had Engram and Freddie Scott. We didn’t have much at RB so maybe give Brady some extra props there.
Edit:
Last edited:
Our '94 RB room was one of the best ever - Kijana Carter, Mike Archie, Stephen Pitts, and the FB combo of Witman/Milne.
You can’t be serious and I’m a huge Warren fan.Joe never saw Warren play!
I think Warren is best TE of all time and think he ranks right up there with best Penn State football player of all time.
Joe never saw Warren play!
If he had, Joe’s first reaction would have been to send him for a haircut
Seriously though — I can’t make the call in my mind to cast a vote on this. I’m just thrilled we have 3 top candidates to debate over, with several other strong TEs in our history as well.
Ted is in the College Football Hall of Fame. If Warren gets there, we'll talk.Joe never saw Warren play!
I think Warren is best TE of all time and think he ranks right up there with best Penn State football player of all time.
Ted was also an NFL All-Pro, so his skills transferred to the next level.
**Of the candidates mentioned, who is the only 2-time All-American, the only unanimous All-American, the one with the highest Heisman finish (4th), the only All-Pro, and the only one in the College Football Hall of Fame? KWALICK
Kwalick is still the gold standard.
Last edited:
My thought is Brady is a better tight end and Warren is a better athlete.
Agree. He owned their vaunted TE Simeon Rice. Pushed that future 1st round pick around like he was on roller skates.
Yep. It's not a knock against Warren, but Brady was so good in all aspects.
Only 2.5 catches per game but he was incredibly a 3rd-4th level option in that incredible offense. And as someone else said, there's no 1994 Illinois comeback without Brady's physicality and blocking.
Fair,
Kwalick is definitely the gold standard of Penn State tight ends. When it comes to comparisons, if Tyler Warren doesn't play football in the NFL, and instead became a plumber, farmer or dentist, it would not change or lessen his performances as a collegian one bit. Nor would being a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame change or improve anything he did in 2024 across the gridirons of America.
Jack Ham was an All-American in 1970 but he gets far too much credit for his collegiate playing days due to his greatness in the NFL. Teammate Dennis Onkotz was a two-time first-team All-American as a junior and senior and a second-team All-American his sophomore year.
If you let what a player does after his collegiate playing days influence you, then you must feel that the 1997 Michigan Wolverines were the greatest cfb team of all-time since they had the GOAT of quarterbacks on their roster and they were so good he hardly even could get on the field and get any playing time. Is that how this works?
It would be akin to thinking some little league team was the greatest of all-time if it had a future HOFer on it.
So what Kwalick did in the NFL should not factor into this comparison. I would think one day Warren will be a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
It is that same flawed line of thinking that causes people to highly overrate the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, a team that could NOT score an OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN against UNRANKED Boston College. How could anyone with a working cerebral cortex possibly believe the "greatest college football team of all-time" would be unable to score an offensive touchdown on an unranked team? The greatest cfb teams score on everyone especially unranked teams. To believe otherwise, to quote Jackie Chan, is ludicrious, outrageous, preposterous.
Based solely on what they did in 2001, and that's all that Miami team should they be judged for because anything that happens after 2001 is superfluous. Billingsley has them correctly ranked at #29 all-time.
CFRC Encyclopedia
The College Football Research Center has been part of the online sports community since the early days of the internet. Today, powered by Ryan McVay Technologies, the new CFRC is bigger, better, and more user-friendly than ever! Find your favorite team and browse the hours away in the All-Time...
www.cfrc.com
The Flaw in Claiming the 2001 Miami Hurricanes are the Greatest College Football Team Ever
When the discussion comes up about which is the greatest college football team of all-time, some college football fans will say it was the 2001 Miami Hurricanes team. If you ask them why, invariabl…
johnbaranowski.wordpress.com
Saturdays,
I don't disagree with your analysis regarding post college results. The NFL mention was added solely because many here never saw Ted play and the point was to emphasize how good he really was.
I will disagree about Jack Ham. He, too, is in the College Football Hall of Fame, and his NFL career typically would not factor in that selection. His college greatness stands apart from his subsequent NFL glory.
Onkotz was, of course, also a College Hall inductee.
I could be wrong but, while I agree Warren is a terrific player, I don't see him making the College Hall. That does not diminish his accomplishments this year but I think the freshness of those efforts overrates his historical value. The passing of time will allow for a more objective analysis.
All that said, your post was well reasoned and worthy of praise.
I don't disagree with your analysis regarding post college results. The NFL mention was added solely because many here never saw Ted play and the point was to emphasize how good he really was.
I will disagree about Jack Ham. He, too, is in the College Football Hall of Fame, and his NFL career typically would not factor in that selection. His college greatness stands apart from his subsequent NFL glory.
Onkotz was, of course, also a College Hall inductee.
I could be wrong but, while I agree Warren is a terrific player, I don't see him making the College Hall. That does not diminish his accomplishments this year but I think the freshness of those efforts overrates his historical value. The passing of time will allow for a more objective analysis.
All that said, your post was well reasoned and worthy of praise.
Last edited:
Excellent! I’ll be thinking of this analogy all day.
Thank you Fair, and point taken. The latest-is-the-greatest line of thinking, recentivism/recentism is all too common nowadays. The criterion that I know of for induction to the College Football HOF is one had to be a first-team All-American, and Warren also being a Mackey Award winner, I don't see how Warren fails. That criterion is what has kept Lenny Moore from being inducted into the CHOF.
I think what matters when comparing Brady with Warren what was the wr situation for each. We had a first round wr (Engram) and a solid #2 wr so the team didn't need to lean so heavily on Brady. If we had just an average collection of receivers i would guess his stats would be cut by 1/3-1/2. As for blocking, i think they were pretty close though Warren was moved around so much he wasn't called on to block as much as Brady was. I just hope Warren doesn't suffer the tragic result that befell Brady and Blair Thomas and end up with the Jets.