Travis Kelce Is Reminded of Rob Gronkowski After Watching Tyler Warren in Action at NFL Scouting Combine 2025

Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski have long been the NFL’s gold standard at tight end. While Kelce is a route-running maestro, Gronk was a human-wrecking ball, dominating defenders with sheer physicality. However, with retirement talk intensifying, the 2024 season may have been the last time we saw Kelce take the field. But fans shouldn’t worry just yet—Kelce believes he’s found a worthy successor, one who could even rival Gronk’s impact — Penn State’s Tyler Warren.

Warren, a projected first-round pick and the top tight end prospect in the 2025 NFL draft, has drawn praise for his size, athleticism, and sheer dominance on the field. But it was his natural playmaking ability that caught Kelce’s attention, reminding the Chiefs superstar of the legendary Gronk.

In the latest episode of New Heights, Travis revealed his appreciation for players who run routes with confidence and show swagger with the ball in their hands. In the Chiefs TE’s eyes, Penn State’s Tyler Warren fits this mold perfectly, thanks to his ability to bulldoze through defenders without fear.

“When you get a guy with the ball in his hands and he feels confident with what he’s doing—like the kid from Penn State…When he catches the ball, you know what he’s doing. He’s running right through. He’s not juking, but he’s making a defender make a decision—he’s playing off of him or being the aggressor,” Travis explained.

Then, the Chiefs tight end made the comparison every Tight End prospect dreams of hearing.

“Like a guy like Gronk does. Or a guy like George Kittle. When he catches the ball, he knows he’s getting north. He’s either running through whoever’s in the way or finding a way to make them miss. That usually gets me fired up.”

As things stand, Warren is the best TE in this Draft Class. His stocks have been sky-high, thanks in large part to his breakout 2024 season, where he notched up 1,233 receiving yards, 218 rushing yards, and 12 total TDs.

Unsurprisingly, his performance last year earned him three major honors—the John Mackey Award as the best tight end in college football, as well as First-Team All-American and Big Ten Tight End of the Year honors.

Though Warren skipped the Combine like many of his peers, mock drafts project him to be a first-round early pick, likely in the 10s. As of now, the three main teams gunning for his signature are the Dolphins, the Colts, and the Broncos.

While with Miami and Denver, Warren will get to be part of explosive offenses that thrive on versatile weapons, with the Colts, he will be primed to do the dirty work for Anthony Richardson—an idea the Penn State standout is cool with.

“He’s definitely one of a kind and a heck of an athlete at the quarterback position. And he’s a great quarterback, too, so that’d be really cool.”

All said and done, it’s clear that no matter which team Tyler Warren joins, he is destined to be a star. After all, it’s not every day you hear Travis Kelce compare a young TE to Rob Gronkowski.