The Lions Should Draft This Guy: Memphis tackle Travis Burke has a ‘nasty disposition that will endear him to coaches’

You can see all the reasons why Dan Campbell and the Lions would love this giant right tackle with a lot of potential

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Oct 25, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Tigers offensive lineman Travis Burke (78) gestures toward the South Florida Bulls defense on the line of scrimmage during the second half at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

We’re getting closer and closer to the 2026 NFL Draft for the Detroit Lions. With that in mind, we’re starting our new series called The Lions Should Draft This Guy. We’re going to profile a bunch of players we feel the Lions would love, and talk about their positives and negatives. Follow along! Here’s who we’ve covered so far:

The positives of Travis Burke

Burke might be a tackle you’ve not heard of, but as of late, he is a guy that every NFL team has been interested in. You can understand why when you look at his frame.

Burke is a near 6-foot-9 and 325-pound tackle who lit it up at Memphis in 2025. He allowed 13 pressures and three sacks. He was the Pro Football Focus’ 11th highest graded tackle in the nation last year. Even better, his 84.2 run blocking grade was the ninth best.

The thing that really sticks out to me is a quote from The Athletic’s Dane Brugler in The Beast.

Burke is a towering tackle prospect with predictable leverage issues, but he also has solid movement ability and a nasty disposition that will endear him to pro coaches. He has tools worth drafting in the mid-rounds, to be a swing tackle and potential starter.

Dane Brugler

The Beast

That says it all right there. The nasty disposition. That’s a Dan Campbell thing right there. A mean dude who wants to play violently and hit some guys out there. Right up the Lions’ alley.

They can get him in the fourth round as well, so the Lions can dedicate their earlier picks to players they feel good about at other positions.

The Concerns

Obviously, there are some concerns with how much he’s actually played right tackle. Before transferring to Memphis, he was at FIU and Gardner-Webb. He played left tackle at both places. The only season he’s actually been a right tackle was in 2025. But it was very good.

The Lions do need to further develop him. Make no mistake, this is not a Giovanni Manu situation. The Lions are getting a guy who was All-ACC last year and has obviously played plenty of Division 1 football. He’s miles ahead of Manu.

But he could bake for a year and play that swing tackle role while Detroit starts Larry Borom at right tackle, and he should be good to go by 2027.

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