While most of Penn State football’s offensive production against Nevada came at the hands of its new-look wide receiver group, the tight ends weren’t completely left out of the equation in the program’s first game in the post-Tyler Warren era.

Redshirt senior Khalil Dinkins and sophomore Luke Reynolds both got the start against the Wolf Pack. Redshirt sophomore Andrew Rappleyea entered the game in the fourth quarter after missing all of last season following an injury in Penn State’s opening win over West Virginia.

While James Franklin has been vocal about Penn State’s depth at tight end with all three players, Saturday was the first time fans were able to see the on-field product. Dinkins snagged one catch from backup quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer at the top of the fourth quarter, Reynolds caught two balls from Allar at the end of the second frame, but Rappleyea most notably showed some early promise. He connected with Grunkemeyer three times in the fourth quarter, racking up 33 yards. Grunkemeyer only threw nine passes on the day, making Rappleyea his favorite target against the Wolf Pack.

“He’s been looking really smooth and kind of been one of those main targets in camp,” Grunkemeyer said of the tight end at his Tuesday media availability. “Me and him have built a good connection in the pass game and I think moving forward he can be a big, big key to the offense.”

Rappleyea battled extensively through the spring and through training camp to get back in game shape. So much so, in fact, that offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and Franklin had to slow down his reintroduction back into the team because he was so eager to get back in the groove.

Franklin has continuously stated that losing Rappleyea at the beginning of last season threw a fork in the team’s plans, but Reynolds filled in essentially as the No. 2 tight end with ease. But what would last year have looked like at the position for Penn State if Rappleyea got his chance?

“Everybody talks about Luke Reynolds, and deservedly so, but you probably wouldn’t have saw Luke Reynolds if Rapp[leyea] didn’t get hurt, because we probably would have redshirted Luke,” Franklin said at his weekly press conference on Monday.

The domino effect of Rappleyea’s injury has finally come to a front as Penn State opened its season on Saturday. Rappleyea may very well have played into this season’s TE1 spot behind Warren in 2024, but the Nittany Lions are still trying to figure out what’s best for the team with one game down. However, Franklin doesn’t see this as a point of weakness.

“So, here we are again with three really good tight ends. I think you could make the argument Khalil [Dinkins] is the most complete tight end in the country, in my opinion. I’m biased, I get that,” Franklin said. “But again, we got three really good tight ends that we think we can win with and can be a problem for people. Rapp[leyea] you saw, obviously the obvious plays that he made in the passing game… We’re excited about that room.”

Franklin noted that the offense as a whole wasn’t as explosive as he would’ve liked to see against the Wolf Pack, which makes Warren’s absence even more defined. He said the coaching staff is going to work on getting more out of the tight ends early in the game, which was apparent in the fact that all of Dinkins’ and Rappleyea’s production came in the final frame.

The sole reason the coaching staff left Dinkins in the game in the fourth quarter with the second unit was to get him a touch of the ball. After having such a luxury at the position a season ago and a completely transformed wideout group who performed well on Saturday, Franklin and Co. are left without a clear answer at the tight end position despite the three options available. It seems that in-game reps are the way to go for Dinkins, Reynolds, and Rappleyea as they battle with not only themselves, but the rest of the offense as well.

“Those guys will continue to play a major part in our offense, but again, I think you guys know this, too, we’re going to play to our strengths… They are not just competing with guys at their position,” Franklin said at his Penn State media day availability in early August. “They are competing with who is going to be that 11th player to put on the field… It’s important that we figure out what our identity is going to be and what puts us in the best position to be successful.”

What makes Penn State’s tight end room so versatile and powerful is its ability to morph into whatever the offense needs at a given time, whether that be as a traditional tight end, or at the hip or in the slot.

The Nittany Lions have two more non-conference games to explore the position and build off of the limited yet solid showing against Nevada. No big mistakes were made by the trio, but it’s just a matter of coordinating the complete offense together with so many new weapons at Allar’s disposal.