Too Deep 96 #12-#20: From Tyler Warren through Omarion Hampton to (sigh) Mike Green.

Draft profiles on the most unique tight end prospect in many years, some toolsy defenders, a heavy-duty all-purpose RB, and an edge rusher who faced sexual assault allegations.

This edition of the Too Deep 96 covers a wide variety of first-round prospects.

#12 Tyler Warren, Tight End, Penn State

Let’s start with the USC game.

Warren caught 17 passes for 224 yards and one touchdown against USC last August. He lined up everywhere: wide bunch formations, at fullback, as a motion H-back and in some wacky Stagger Lee-type formation. Sometimes, for poops and giggles, he even stood next to the right tackle like a normal tight end! A lefty quarterback in high school, Warren completed a short pass and motioned under center to run for a third-and-short conversion. He caught a touchdown pass after snapping the ball in a straight-from-recess trick play. He didn’t punt against USC, but he did against Minnesota.

I have never seen anything like Warren’s USC performance at the major-conference level. It was like watching old footage of John Mackey from the days when positions like “tight end” were not fully codified. If I were drafting an 11-player team for which everyone had to play multiple offensive and defensive roles, I would select Warren — who took frequent short-yardage Wildcat snaps — right after Travis Hunter.

All that said, Warren is surprisingly tricky to evaluate as a modern tight end prospect.

Penn State’s passing game in 2024 was designed to funnel the ball to Warren. He was targeted 36 times at or behind the line of scrimmage, including shovel passes, catching 34 of those micro-passes for 273 yards. He was targeted 31 times after going in motion before the snap, the highest figure in the nation for a tight end, catching 27 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns on those plays. He rushed 26 times from a variety of formations.

If a playoff-caliber power-conference team is rewriting its playbook to get the ball to one guy, it’s a pretty clear sign that guy is special. Indeed, Warren glides across the open field like the early-2020s version of Travis Kelce. But Warren isn’t a tackle-dragging monster. He also body-catches a lot of passes, which sounds like silly scout-speak but can be a big deal: passing windows over the middle of the field are tight in the NFL, and a receiver who doesn’t consistently pluck the ball from the air will see lots of passes knocked away.

I came away from Warren’s 2024 film wishing I had seen fewer direct-snap over-the-top touchdowns and more semi-conventional tight end stuff: checkdowns into heavy traffic over the middle, rugged blocks on outside runs. Warren’s 2023 tape has lots of that conventional stuff, but in 2023 Warren just looked like a slightly upgraded Pat Freiermuth, not the hybrid of Cooper Kupp, Mike Alstott and Tim Tebow he appeared to be in 2024.

Some of these criticisms are nitpicks of a tight end who caught 104 passes and rushed for four touchdowns last season. Warren is a Top 20 pick with a Mark Andrews ceiling. His floor is a Noah Gray-like heavy slot guy. But Brock Bowers looked like a better prospect than Warren coming out of Georgia because Bowers could block and work underneath like a normal tight end.

I also graded Kyle Pitts higher than I grade Warren – take that for what it's worth – because Pitts ran routes and snatched the ball like a wide receiver, not an all-purpose athlete who happened to be running routes.

It’s always best to temper expectations about rookie tight ends. Don’t expect Bowers-level immediate impact from Warren. But a team willing to move Warren around and use all of his tools – and give him time to grow as a blocker and technician – could end up with a unique offensive weapon.

Quote of Note: “Tyler Warren's a different player. Of course, you guys seen it on the field. But what I give him big credit for is not even just his play. The kind of person he is: he could block 100 times, not catch a pass in the game, and he'll be smiling more than anybody on the field because we won the game. And then he can obviously go for 17 catches and 200 yards and wouldn't even brag one bit about it. So I have much respect for him.” – Penn State teammate Kevin Watson.

#13 Nick Emmanwori, Safety, South Carolina

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Emmanwori looks like a skinny edge rusher but runs like a cornerback. He started his college career at cornerback, then grew so large that coaches considered a move to linebacker before settling upon safety.

Emmanwori set the Combine on fire. He ran a 4.38-second forty, and that speed is evident on game film: he can turn and run upfield against slot receivers in man coverage. He posted a 43-inch high jump – the best figure of the Combine, at any position – and his film is full of leaping interceptions and pass breakups.

The Gamecocks used Emmanwori mostly as a deep safety and slot cornerback. He rarely blitzed. He’s not much of an in-the-box run defender, though he’s a steady tackler with just four broken and six misses on 97 total tackles. He’ll deliver some pops in the middle of the field.

The biggest knock on Emmanwori, which Greg Zierlein leads his NFL.com profile with, is an inconsistent motor. Zierlein gets inside dirt on prospects that I cannot get. Maybe Emmanwori coasts on talent at times. Maybe he’s not the most eager run stuffer. But he returned two interceptions for touchdowns last season, with a third against LSU erased by a penalty. He allowed just 15 receptions with four interceptions in 393 coverage snaps, many of them from the slot. He has the potential to erase an opponent’s heavy slot receiver or matchup-nightmare tight end from the game plan.

Teams seeking a finished product at safety have better options in this draft class. Teams seeking gonzo upside should make Emmanwori the top safety on the board. And really, teams shouldn’t be seeking “finished products” at a position like safety in any draft class.

#14 Shemar Stewart, Edge Rusher, Texas A&M

Stewart won the predraft process. He dominated opponents during Senior Bowl practices, often looking 10 pounds heavier, one step quicker AND a little meaner than the players blocking him. He took to the Combine podium and sounded like he was running for city council. Then he posted other-worldly workout results. His Relative Athletic Score of 10.0 is apparently historic; I know little about RAS, but “10.0” may be the simplest encapsulation of sprinting and jumping results that were downright astonishing for a 267-pound athlete.

Based on January through March of 2025, Stewart is a Top Five talent. Unfortunately, Stewart actually played college football from September of 2022 through November of 2024. He only recorded 4.5 sacks in those three years. He also recorded just 74 pressures in those three seasons. Furthermore, his run-defense statistics are unimpressive. Stewart recorded just five tackles for a loss on running plays last year, tied for fifth on the Aggies defense. Teammate Nic Scourton recorded 14 TFL.