Benjamin Brahmer is already forcing Penn State to think bigger at tight end.
That’s a loaded idea in Happy Valley, where the position has a long line of heavy hitters. Ted Kwalick.
Kyle Brady. Tyler Warren.
Brahmer isn’t anywhere near that company yet - he’s played just two games in a Penn State uniform - but the early returns are enough to make the conversation feel justified.
At 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds, the Iowa State transfer has been a problem for defenses right away. In two games, he has six catches on nine targets for 87 yards, a 14.5-yard average per grab, and three touchdowns. Against Temple, he took another step, hauling in five passes for 79 yards and two scores on six targets.
The production was one thing. The efficiency was another. His 3.59 yards per route run against Temple showed just how dangerous he was whenever Penn State sent him out into a pattern.
Longtime Penn State radio voice Steve Jones summed up the matchup issue on NSN’s “Joe and The Fatman.”
“It sure is a luxury to have a 6-foot-7 guy,” longtime Penn State radio voice Steve Jones said on NSN’s “Joe and The Fatman.” “I was once talking to an NFL safety about facing a big tight end, and he said, ‘Steve, here’s the problem: He’s too quick for a linebacker and he’s too big for a safety.’
“Well, that’s Brahmer.”
That size-speed dilemma showed up against Temple in a moment that mattered. With the game tied 3-3 and the first half nearing its end, quarterback Rocco Becht hit Brahmer on a 24-yard touchdown that flipped the feel of the afternoon.
It was more than a tall target winning a jump ball. Penn State picked its spot, isolated Brahmer against the right defender and let Becht and his tight end do the rest.
“When you’ve got a target like that, where you can put the ball up high, it’s not going to get picked off,” Jones said. “And he has excellent hands.”
Brahmer’s value isn’t limited to the passing game, either. Through two games, he owns a 72.6 PFF pass-blocking grade, another sign that Penn State can use him in more than one way. With Andrew Rappleyea, Gabe Burkle and Finn Furmanek giving the room depth, the Nittany Lions have room to mix and match personnel and ask different things from different tight ends.
Burkle has seen Brahmer’s growth up close, and he says the work ethic has been obvious for a while.
“He’s always prepared like a pro, honestly,” Burkle said. “Even his freshman year, his first fall camp, I thought everyone was super impressed with him.”
The biggest change, Burkle said, is that Brahmer no longer looks like the thin young tight end who first arrived at Iowa State.
“He’s definitely put on weight, which was good, and he wears it well,” Burkle said. “Obviously, it hasn’t slowed him down at all.”
That’s the dangerous part for Penn State opponents. Brahmer has added the bulk needed to survive the position, but he hasn’t lost the traits that make him such a threat as a receiver.
And beyond the physical tools, there’s already evidence of trust building between him and Becht. Jones has noticed it in practice, especially when the offense gets into high-pressure situations.
“There have been times I’ve watched practice when they’re running a two-minute drill or something and he’ll throw the ball to Brahmer three straight times,” Jones said. “He’ll look around and that’s the guy he trusts.”
Two games won’t put Brahmer beside Kwalick, Brady or Warren. But they have shown enough to explain why Penn State’s tight end room is drawing attention again.
At the very least, the Nittany Lions may have found Becht’s security blanket. And at 6-foot-7, that blanket covers a lot of ground.
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