Oklahoma Sooners' "Freak" wide receiver earns high praise as his breakout 2024 season is set to begin
It's going to be hard for the new Purdue transfer wide receiver Deion Burks to live up the massive hype that has been building with the Oklahoma Sooners this off-season, but he certainly looks up to the task. And just this week more fuel has been added to the hype fire for Burks. Bruce Feldman's […]
It's going to be hard for the new Purdue transfer wide receiver Deion Burks to live up the massive hype that has been building with the Oklahoma Sooners this off-season, but he certainly looks up to the task. And just this week more fuel has been added to the hype fire for Burks. Bruce Feldman's Freak List was released and he was featured as the only Sooners player heading into the 2024 season.
Deion Burks truly a freak wide receiver
Although Burks didn't have a hugely productive season for Purdue last year when you look at his raw totals, he accounted for 25% of the team's receiving yards and nearly half of the touchdowns! Even though teams knew the ball was going his way he still could not be stopped. But why is that? What makes him so good?
According to Feldman, part of what makes Burks so difficult to handle is his strength and burst:
"Burks proved to be [Oklahoma's] strongest wideout in the squat (540 pounds), the bench press (400), and the power clean (340). He also topped all receivers in jump height measured in force plates based off his velocity at take off. Burks' propulsive force was remarkable in terms of his ability to generate forces of nearly four times (3.86) his body weight in a vertical jump."
Despite being listed at just 5'9", 190 pounds, Burks plays much bigger, stronger, with explosion that is hard to stop off the line and in/out of his breaks. That athleticism and impressive speed has been on full display from Burks since he showed up with Oklahoma this spring. Now at fall camp he's already demonstrating real chemistry with Jackson Arnold, making plays left and right (as you can see in the post below).
Burks has been making explosive plays since this past spring and it was on constant display during Oklahoma's spring game. Almost immediately Jackson Arnold found Burks for a deep touchdown to kick off the offense, making it look far too easy for what should be a special connection between quarterback and wide receiver this fall.
But Arnold and Burks weren't done after just one explosive score. They came back just a few drives later and connected for another long score on a deep post route. Burks' speed is going to be a huge problem for opposing defenses (as you can see in my post below).
If Burks is utilized properly alongside stud wide receivers Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq, and (now healthy) Andrel Anthony, Oklahoma's offense is going to put up some silly numbers through the air this season. Burks' freak athleticism should be the focal point of the offense, and if he hits his full potential this season the Sooners could certainly silence any doubters as they join the SEC this season.
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If you want to check out the potential Deion Burks brings to Oklahoma just watch his Purdue highlights from last season in the video below!
