Bottom Line

***UPDATE: Burks suffered a left leg injury in practice Wednesday, Aug. 16. We're waiting to learn more. If you're drafting tonight, probably best to avoid the second-year Titan. We'll update as we learn more.***

Burks finds himself in a tough offense for passing upside overall. And DeAndre Hopkins’ arrival impedes his path to hogging targets in Year 2.

But there’s little else on the depth chart. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Kyle Philips stand as the other “competition” at WR. Even intriguing second-year TE Chig Okonkwo might face a playing-time issue.

Burks remains a solid-to-strong “buy” because he was already going low in WR3 territory before the Hopkins signing. If you can get him as a WR4-5, the upside remains exciting.

Even outscoring Hopkins lies within Burks’ range of possible outcomes.

What We Learned Last Year

• It’s difficult to produce when you start slowly and then deal with multiple injuries.
• Burks’ issues began right away with reports that his conditioning lagged for early workouts. Then came signals from HC Mike Vrabel of some disappointing performances in training camp.
• The first-round pick ran fourth in playing time among Titans receivers in the opener and fell short of 50% playing time each of the first two weeks.
• He led the team in targets in Week 2, however, and saw his playing time increase over the next two games. Unfortunately, Burks suffered a turf toe injury in Week 4 and then missed the next four contests. Four games into his return from that, Burks sustained a concussion that cost him two more weeks.
• In the midst of those issues, Burks did manage to draw 6+ targets in five of his final six healthy games. He caught 4+ balls in four of those five games, averaging 13.7 yards per catch over that full span.
• Of course, Burks’ performance before last season is what makes him intriguing.
  • He led Arkansas in receiving yards as a 2019 true freshman.
  • Burks followed that by claiming 35.5% of Razorbacks receptions, 43.3% of receiving yards, and 50% of TD catches in his sophomore season. He ranked third in the SEC in receiving yards per game that year.
  • Burks again dominated receiving work as a junior:
    • 34.6% of receptions
    • 41.1% of yards
    • 50% of TDs
  • He even added 112 yards and a TD on 14 carries.
  • Burks ranked fourth in Pro Football Focus receiving grade and third in yards per route among 198 FBS qualifiers that year.

What to Expect in 2023

• Things started much more positively for Burks in his first full NFL offseason.
  • He told The Tennessean in May: "I feel faster because I can breathe. I didn't go to train at the beach or anything. I stayed here. I wanted to stay around the facility, to make a connection with the coaches but also to get ahead on things. My biggest thing was not repeating what I did last year, coming into the offseason. I feel like I've mastered that.”
• Strong reviews followed from OTAs.
• Tennessee signed WR DeAndre Hopkins to a two-year deal in July. He opens 2023 as the best bet for target share, given that Hopkins has been a target magnet on both his NFL teams so far.
• But there’s still plenty of room for Burks. Among returning Titans, no one drew more target share last season than Burks’ 16.1% (adjusted for games missed), which ranked just 61st among WRs. No returning Titan caught more than Burks’ 33 receptions last year. Offseason departures vacated 45% of 2022 targets, 205 total.
• This offense will almost certainly remain run-heavy. The Titans have run on 46.9% of offensive plays or more for five straight years.