Khalil Dinkins wants to be the latest Penn State tight end to find a spot in the NFL, joining former teammates Tyler Warren, Theo Johnson and Brenton Strange.
His pass-catching numbers don’t rival those recent Nittany Lions stars, but an invite to the NFL combine gave the 6-foot-4, 251-pound Dinkins a chance to convince scouts he offers more than his stats might imply.
“I wasn’t able to show everything I could do at Penn State,” Dinkins told reporters in Indianapolis. “So being able to show that and do that (at the combine) would be something good for me.”
As a redshirt senior, Dinkins played in 12 games with nine starts. His NFL.com draft profile highlights his “explosive athleticism and potential,” yet Dinkins made just 14 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns last fall in a season that turned disastrous for Penn State.
So, he arrived in Indy on a mission.
“Just showing coaches that I can do more than blocking,” said Dinkins, who was among 27 tight end prospects invited to the combine. “I’ve been talking about that a lot.”
The 2021 North Allegheny graduate is the son of a former NFL tight end. His father, Darnell, played eight seasons with the Giants, Ravens, Browns and Saints as an undrafted free agent.
Dinkins said his father’s experience helped him get ready for the combine, especially for the team interviews that started the process.
“Coaches kind of look for what I’m going to say in these interviews and how I’m going to react,” Dinkins said. “He’s definitely helped prepare me mentally for how it’s going to be, just from an interview standpoint. … I try to tell him it’s changed since the 1990s, so not everything’s going to be the same. But he’s definitely been a big help.”
The younger Dinkins’ strength is one of his better attributes. He completed 25 reps on the 225-pound bench press, which tied for third among the nine tight ends who lifted at the combine.
However, despite his draft profile crediting him with “blazing straight-line speed,” his unofficial 40-yard time of 4.72 seconds surprisingly ranked 16th among the 18 tight ends who ran.
His 32½-inch vertical leap ranked last among the group, while his 9-foot, 11-inch broad jump put him middle of the pack. He was among a handful of tight ends who ran both the three-cone drill (7.28 seconds) and the 20-yard shuttle (4.33), according to NFL.com.
While Dinkins hoped to show scouts his versatility, he also acknowledged that his NFL hopes rely on a willingness to block. He was a wide receiver in high school, so that was a skill he developed in college.
“It’s definitely not fun,” Dinkins said. “But it’s just something that you have to learn how to do … especially (if) you want to be tight end in the league and be there for longevity.”
Dinkins played 47 games at Penn State, completing his college career with 37 receptions, 399 yards and seven touchdowns. He shared a crowded tight end room early in the career, at times with future NFL Draft picks Warren, Johnson and Strange.
Warren was drafted 14th overall in 2025, Johnson was a fourth-round pick a year earlier and Strange went in the second round in 2023. All three made at least 70 career catches at Penn State, led by Warren with 153.
With so much talent on the Penn State roster, the situation wasn’t “wait your turn,” Dinkins said, but rather “be ready when your time comes.”
Dinkins was atop Penn State’s depth chart last fall and credited former tight ends coaches Ty Howle and David Rocco for his development. But the team’s 2025 season fell apart quickly.
The Nittany Lions endured six straight Big Ten defeats, the firing of coach James Franklin and the loss of quarterback Drew Allar to injury.
“Going through those last three years at Penn State, there was definitely a lot of development,” Dinkins said. “I’m definitely thankful for it. This past year definitely didn’t go how you expected it to go, but it’s something that you learn and just move on.”