What is the Penn State plan for young tight ends Andrew Rappleyea and Luke Reynolds at West Virginia?

The Penn State tight ends room is led by Tyler Warren, and the senior will take the field first the Lions at that position on Saturday at West Virginia. That has been known since the end of last season, of course. And, while it was not as certain who the program’s No. 2 tight end would be, redshirt junior Khalil Dinkins figured to be the next man up. He may very well be by some point during the 2024 season. But, the Pennsylvania native’s absence has been notable at recent open practices since preseason camp started and head coach James Franklin said Aug. 13 that “he’s had some bumps and bruises as well and missed some time.”

Asked in part about Dinkins on Wednesday, Franklin did not address his status. But, he did answer the second part of the question about redshirt freshman Andrew Rappleyea’s preparation level. And, he threw in that another Nittany Lion at the position is ready to roll, too.

“I think you’ll see a ton of Rappleyea [on Saturday],” Franklin said. “I also think you’ll see a decent amount of Luke [Reynolds] as well in this first game. Rap, as you guys know, there’s been an excitement about him since last year. He just continues to develop and get better. I think Tyler [Warren’s] influence on all those guys has been really good. And Luke has come in exactly what you want and has pushed those guys, too. So he’s a mature guy, and he’ll have a role in this game one too.”

Assessing the Penn State situation at tight end heading into Week 1

Again, it should be stressed that Franklin made no direct comment about Dinkins’ status for Saturday on Wednesday night. His last comments on the tight end came on Aug. 13.

“He’s had some bumps and bruises as well and missed some time,” Franklin said then. “But he is a big, strong, fast, aggressive guy. He’s been productive in the amount of reps he’s been able to get, but he’s missed some time. We need to get him back soon because I think he has a chance to be a big part of our offense.”

The first public indication about his situation will come when the program releases its pregame availability report at 10 a.m. ET on game day. But, whether Dinkins suits up or not, week one of the 2024 season could serve as a coming-out party for Rappleyea. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound New York native, former four-star, and top-50 prospect in the On3 rankings for the Class of 2023 arrived in State College last year with much fanfare. He only saw time in three games in 2023. But, steady progress over the last year and a half has been evident on the practice field. Now, we’ll see it transfers to the game field in year two.

More: What did Penn State football’s offense show at open practice?

As for Reynolds, he was not signaled out as a player who will definitely burn his redshirt in 2024 by Franklin on Monday (freshman lineman Cooper Cousins and safety Dejuan Lane were). But, clearly he will play, as BWI’s Sean Fitz wrote in his green-yellow-red forecast for subscribers earlier this week. How much so remains to be seen. But, the former four-star and top-65 player in the Class of 2024 per the On3 Industry Rankings arrived on campus with plenty of the intangibles needed for early playing time. Now, we’ll see if those indicators will lead to early success.

“He’s going to be a really good player here,” Franklin said in earlier this month. “He’s very similar to Tyler Warren. They both played high school quarterback and transitioned to the position. He has gotten bigger. He put on a good amount of weight early on, and then he’s kind of plateaued off a little bit.

“We got to continue to chip away at that. But he doesn’t mind sticking his nose in there, makes a ton of plays in the passing game. He’s gonna be a really good player. We got great competition at the tight end position, so he’s gonna be a guy that’s gonna play this year. Whether it is four games plus postseason or whether it’s just an all-out play is still to be determined.”