Treylon Burks is a wide receiver who was a highly rated recruit from Arkansas and he stayed home to play for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. He played immediately and was quickly the best player on the field for Arkansas. He was the lone bright spot on the Arkansas offense in 2020 and has the potential to be a first-round pick. Let’s hop into his scouting report to see why.
Strengths: Treylon Burks is an impressive physical specimen, standing at 6’3″ and weighing 225lbs, the prototypical size for an NFL wide receiver. He possesses an impressive catch radius due to his long arms, which makes him a good red-zone target due to his frame. He is impressively athletic for his size, and Arkansas puts that on display by moving him all around the offense. While he spends the majority of his time in the slot, he has often been put in motion and can also line up in the backfield. He is clearly the best player on a talent-poor Arkansas offense, so the coaching staff does whatever they can to get the ball in his hands: throwing him screens and manufacturing his touches as much as possible. Burks does also have good speed for someone his size. Along with his size, he is rumored to have massive hands, wearing custom 5XL gloves. For the most part, he has reliable hands, as one would expect. He displays good ball skills and he does an impressive job tracking the ball in the air, with the ability to get under a poorly thrown ball. Burks is a good route runner, using speed and sharp cuts to get himself open. He does a good job finding soft spots in the coverage. He displays a good ability to put one foot in the ground and cut as well. As expected due to his size, Burks is productive after the catch, often breaking tackles and also being shifty enough to make tacklers miss. Finally, he is physical at the catch point, with an ability to win contested catches. His physicality also shows up in his willingness and success as a blocker on the perimeter.
Weaknesses: Although Burks has impressive athleticism for his size, he does lack a second gear and top-end speed. He can run but won’t always outrun defensive backs. It’s not a massive knock because that’s not his game and he can win in other ways. Due to Arkansas manufacturing many of his touches, he does not run a full route tree. This is no fault of his own, as Arkansas seems to want to get him the ball as quickly as possible. This often prevented him from running long, slower developing routes. He could be dominant on the outside, but Arkansas rarely puts him there. While Burks does have reliable hands, there is one issue that pops up from time to time. He can tend to catch balls with his body instead of with his hands, and that can lead to confusing drops from time to time. He does show the ability to use solely his hands to catch the ball, so it may just be complacency. Regardless, it is something I would like to see him work out of his game. He also appears to be more of a one-cut player. He is shifty and can weave his way around defenders, but I rarely saw him make double moves or multiple sharp cuts in a route. That could be due to the offense and the role he is asked to run, but double moves and such are things I would like to see implemented into his game.
Bottom Line: Burks has a ton of physical traits and attributes that you really like to see in a wide receiver. He is big, fairly athletic, and has decent speed. He is physical, a willing blocker, a red zone threat, and tracks the ball well. He doesn’t seem to be used right in the Arkansas offense and, let’s be honest, he had to deal with poor quarterback play in 2020. He clearly has many of the skills one looks for in a wide receiver and I’m not worried about the minor issues, like the body catching and limited route tree. Burks has the potential to be a star and could end up being a steal if he is used correctly in 2021.
Edited By: Rupayan “Abs” Samanta.
