INDIANAPOLIS — Tyler Warren wears No. 44 because of an old Jet.
When Warren was young and just starting to play football, his father showed him film of an old Jets running back who later starred for Washington and made No. 44 look powerful.
“I wear 44 because when I was a younger my dad put on John Riggins film and said, ‘This is how I want you to run the ball,’ ” Warren said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Thursday.
Warren did not end up becoming the next great power back, but he is considered the top tight end in this year’s draft and is a potential target for the Jets with the No. 7 overall pick.
Warren could end up wearing Riggins’ old number in New York.
The Jets passed on tight end Brock Bowers last season after plenty of pre-draft speculation that he would be their choice.
They took tackle Olu Fashanu with the No. 11 pick, and he showed plenty of promise as a rookie.
But Bowers went two picks later to the Raiders and had a monster season, making it a question if the Jets made a mistake passing on him.
A year later, they have a need at tight end with Tyler Conklin set to hit free agency and Jeremy Ruckert looking like a backup.
Warren could give the team a weapon for new coach Aaron Glenn and whoever he picks as his new quarterback.
Warren repeated several times Thursday that he feels like he is a tight end who can do it all.
“I think what I try and do is to be a guy that can kind of fit a lot of different roles,” Warren said. “I don’t know if I have one that really sticks out above the rest. I think that’s kind of what’s fun about the tight end position is you get to do a lot of different things within the offense. That’s kind of what I try to focus on as a tight end.”
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has Warren rated as his top tight end and sees him as one of the best overall players in this draft.
“Tyler Warren is my fifth-overall player because his mixture of just size, physicality,” Jeremiah said. “He just walls guys off. He looks like a billboard rolling down the seam. He’s enormous. He has a huge catch radius. He is so physical and tough with the ball in his hands after the catch. They use him on the wildcat stuff and use him as a runner and do those different things because he’s a really hard guy to get on the ground.”
Jeremiah said Warren fits into the style of tight end that Rob Gronkowsi was the prototype for — someone who can run over people with the ball in his hands rather than a finesse player.
“I look at tight ends, and you kind of look at the Gronk tree and the [Travis] Kelce tree,” Jeremiah said. “If you are stylistically the differences between those two guys, it’s well-represented in this draft, you have Tyler Warren who represents more of the Gronk type that’s going to be better on the move, crossers, seams, get the ball in his hands and make people tackle him.”
Warren said he watched film of former Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey last summer and tries to emulate his physical style.
“His mentality running the ball was something I kind of liked,” Warren said.
Longtime Jets fans may have reservations about taking a Penn State tight end with memories of Kyle Brady in 1995 still in their heads, but Warren is highly regarded by the draft gurus, and he could be a weapon to complement receiver Garrett Wilson.
Warren said he is willing to do whatever is asked.
“The team is more important than myself,” Warren said. “That’s kind of what I love about the game of football, being able to serve the team. That’s the biggest point I’ve been trying to get across when I do get the chance to talk to these teams.”
