Penn State tight end Tyler Warren wins 2024 Mackey Award
Penn State senior Tyler Warren is the 2024 Mackey Award winner. The honor goes annually to the nation’s top tight end. The Nittany Lion beat out Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr., and Michigan’s Colston Loveland for the honor. This year’s choice was announced during The Home Depot College Football Award Show on ESPN Thursday night. He is the first PSU tight end to ever win the honor.
While it’s true that three finalists were up for the award, the voting surely came down to Warren and Fannin Jr. Both were the players who made their team’s respective offenses go.
Warren scored touchdowns as a thrower, passer, and receiver in 2024. He is the owner of 88 receptions for 1,062 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns this season. One of those scoring catches came on a play during which he snapped the ball. He also rushed 23 times for 191 yards and four scores. And, he completed 3 of 5 passes for 35 yards and a touchdown.
Fannin Jr., led all FBS tight ends in receptions (100), receiving yards (1,342), and touchdowns (9). Those first two figures are No. 2 nationally, regardless of position. He was not always used as a run blocker, which is part of the reason Lions coach James Franklin repeatedly pushed the idea of Warren being a complete tight end in his push for the Virginia native to win the Mackey. Of Warren’s 734 snaps on offense in 2024, 331 came as a blocker (45 percent), per PFF. Only 257 of Fannin Jr.’s 649 did (39.5 percent).
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“They ought to bring the Mackey Award tonight,” Franklin said after the Lions’ regular season finale. “Put it on a private jet, fly it to Tyler Warren and give it to him on Sunday. And then he should get an invitation to New York. He’s done it week in and week out. He’s a big-time player. And, he’s doing it when all eyes are on him and he’s the focus of the game plan. He’s a special guy.”
It was hardly the first time Franklin praised Warren. He also did so earlier in November.
“He’s been phenomenal,” Franklin said. “To me, it’s not even a question that he’s the best tight end in college football. You can make the argument that he’s one of the most impactful football players in all of college football.”
Warren is also the Big Ten tight end of the year. And, he is already on multiple All-American teams. The Nittany Lion broke the Penn State and Big Ten all-time single-season records for receptions and yards. He is the Lions’ career leader for a tight end in catches (137), receiving yards (1,668), touchdowns (17), and games with at least 100 receiving yards (5).
Penn State returns to the field on Dec. 21. It hosts SMU in a first-round College Football Playoff game then. Kickoff is at Noon ET. TNT will televise the contest.
