Tyler Warren is Brandon Beane’s ideal tight end prospect — could the Bills find room for him?
The Bills already have two tight ends and Warren is expected to be taken earlier than their pick.
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Of all the positions the Buffalo Bills must consider early in the draft, tight end isn’t among them.
But general manager Brandon Beane might need Tyler Warren.
You can’t blame Beane’s attraction. Sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants, and Warren’s gnarly attitude slugs Beane right in the feels.
Those who know Beane well noted the attraction a month ago upon hearing words as subtle as grass stains and bloody knuckles. You see, growing up, Beane’s favorite football player was Hall of Fame running back John “Diesel” Riggins, and whenever speaking about all-time great tight ends, Beane inevitably endorses bruiser Jeremy Shockey as the embodiment of tight end perfection.
After several of these conversations with Beane over the years, you can imagine how intrigued I was to hear Warren, the total-package Penn State tight end, say this to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine:
“I wear 44 because when I was younger my dad put on John Riggins’ film and said, ‘This is how I want you to run the ball,’” Warren said. “Another guy I saw this summer was Jeremy Shockey, and the way he played and his mentality running the ball, it was something I kind of liked and tried to do a little bit this year.”
Heavens above. With that specific combination of old-school references, you had to wonder if Warren was speaking to an audience of one. Had he also incorporated Beane’s favorite baseball and basketball players, Atlanta legends Dale Murphy and Dominique Wilkins, we would’ve known for sure.
It’s fun to think about. But as much as Beane admires Warren, they probably won’t talk over the phone April 24.
Buffalo owns the 30th overall draft choice, and mock drafts commonly slot Warren within the first 10 picks. Buffalo also likes its tight ends. Beane adores what Dawson Knox adds to the organizational culture, and they just drafted Dalton Kincaid 25th overall two years ago.
Tight end is not a position of blatant need. If Warren were to slide late into the first round, then his value still would need to exceed that of another who could fill a hole. The Bills’ draft list is obvious. They crave cornerback help. Personnel along the defensive line must be reinforced. Receiver prospects are in demand always. Another tight end could be overkill.
But there’s no denying Warren’s skill set and Buffalo’s dissatisfaction with last year’s tight end production.
Knox and Kincaid were supposed to be a dangerous tandem — maybe the NFL’s most dangerous — in 2024, but Buffalo’s tight ends were substandard. The average NFL tight end recorded 5.1 catches for 51.1 yards, 0.3 touchdowns and 2.6 first downs per game. Bills tight ends averaged 4.2 catches for 47.1 yards, 0.2 touchdowns and 2.2 first downs.
Kincaid has a lot to think about this offseason. His personal numbers were substantially lower than the betting props and fantasy projections. He plummeted from 73 receptions and 673 yards as a rookie to 44 catches and 448 yards last year, while matching his two TDs.
His fateful, fourth-down drop late in the AFC Championship Game will symbolize the Bills’ latest failure to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs and reach the Super Bowl. Then, in their postmortem news conferences, Beane and coach Sean McDermott singled out Kincaid as someone who must be more committed to physically preparing for the rigors of an NFL campaign.
Kincaid missed three games with knee and collarbone injuries, but Knox didn’t pick up the slack. Knox averaged 1.4 receptions (career low) and 19.4 yards (second lowest) with one touchdown (career low).
Overall, however, I’m told the Bills still believe in the Kincaid-Knox duo and the way they complement each other. Even with their disappointing stats and a menagerie of wideouts, Buffalo finished second in scoring, sixth in yards per play, 11th in yards per carry, ninth in yards per pass attempt and sixth in first downs.
Whatever team drafts Warren will get a two-way tight end known for his toughness, leadership, pillow hands and in-line blocking ability. He is a skosh under 6-foot-6 and weighs 256 pounds, but coaches and scouts also talk about his sneaky speed. He led Penn State with 104 catches for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns, winning the John Mackey Award.
But that’s not all. He ran 26 times for 218 yards and four TDs and completed three of six passes for 35 yards and a TD.
Maybe he actually can bat like Dale Murphy and windmill dunk like Dominique Wilkins, too. (Well, I’ll be. Just checked and Warren became the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s first all-metro selection in three sports. As a left-handed pitcher/outfielder, he hit .469 with power, stole bases and clocked 90 mph. He played center/forward, averaging 18.6 points and 9.1 rebounds as a senior.)
Warren didn’t go through on-field drills at the combine, but his stock could spike even more at Penn State’s pro day. I wonder how often Bills owner and Penn State megadonor Terry Pegula has imagined watching Warren score touchdowns in a Bills uniform.
One scouting executive I spoke with likened Warren right now to when Heath Miller, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ two-time Lombardi Trophy tight end, was drafted 30th overall in 2005.
NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein’s comparison for Warren? Shockey.
Beane was the Carolina Panthers’ personnel director in 2011 when they signed two-time Super Bowl champ Shockey as a free agent and traded for Greg Olsen, giving rookie quarterback Cam Newton two potent tight end options. It turned out to be Shockey’s swan song, but Olsen blossomed into a star who, if not for Rob Gronkowski one year and Travis Kelce the next, would have been voted All-Pro.
There are plenty of reasons not to write off Warren as a potential Bills draft pick. Beane values high-quality tight end depth; he could even trade Knox to avoid too much redundancy. He reveres the Riggins ethos, digs the Shockey vibe. Warren’s skill set is comprehensive.
Almost everything lines up — except for an adequate draft slot if the draftniks are correct.
But if Buffalo’s front office wants to be safe, perhaps it should put some extra controls in place to prevent Beane from doing something reckless like packaging four first-round draft picks and Josh Allen’s MVP trophy in a trade to move inside the top 10. Hire extra security for the draft room to yank Beane away from the phones if necessary. Require a second signature from McDermott on all documents. Give top lieutenants Brian Gaine and Terrance Gray pepper spray.
Or, to hell with it, let Beane recapture that sense of wonder at a reasonable price and add a player who just might channel the GM’s definition of greatness