Darin Gantt

CHARLOTTE If Penn State tight end Tyler Warren comes off as a throwback player, there's a reason for that.

From the guy his father assigned him to pattern which led to his uniform number, to a more modern tight end whose vibe he copied, there's an edge about him.

"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 at the combine.

Emulating the legendary Washington running back is a good place to start for a guy who ends up with the ball in his hands, but it was a former Panther who also became someone he patterned his game after.

"Another guy I saw this summer was Jeremy Shockey," Warren continued. "And the way he kind of played and his mentality running the ball, something I kind of liked and tried to do a little bit this year."

Warren also has the locks reminiscent of Shockey, who played his final season here in 2011 alongside Greg Olsen and Cam Newton after a long career with the Giants and Saints.

Warren's game is a blend of all those influences, and he exploded onto the scene last year to make some of the comparisons more realistic after putting up modest stats his first four seasons (including a redshirt year).

"When I got to Penn State, I wasn't a fully developed tight end yet," he said. "I had to wait my turn and learn from the guys in front of me, understanding I was not at the point I needed to be in order to play and contribute and trusting the process. Everybody's looks different. Mine took a few years until I got into the flow of college football."

That flow became a flood last season.

He had 104 catches for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns, along with 26 carries for 218 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. That won him the John Mackey award as the nation's top tight end and has put him in top-10 conversations at a position that continues to evolve.

"I think I can do a lot of different things," he said. "So whatever the offense needs from week to week and what they want my role to be is what I'll do, and that might change from game to game. I think I'm a guy that can do a lot of different things.

"I think we're all on the same page. There's a lot of different things you can do with the tight end in general."

Of course, the position itself has changed considerably since Shockey retired, and Warren has drawn from players such as George Kittle and Travis Kelce to fellow Nittany Lions product Pat Freiermuth when he thinks about his next steps.

Wherever those steps take him, he'll take them confidently, as he brings that Riggins/Shockey swagger to every interaction as well and has shown he can do a lot of different things on the field.

"What I try and do is be a guy that can kind of fit in a lot of different roles," he said. "I don't know if I have one that really sticks out the best. That's kind of fun about the tight end position is you get to do a lot of different things within the offense."