Deion
Burks.
Deion
Burks.
Oklahoma
R7 · #254 · Indianapolis Colts"A track-fast slot separator whose value lives in the first three steps off the line and the top of the route, the kind of miniature field-stretcher who forces a safety to cheat before the ball is snapped."Pre-draft read
Almost exclusively a slot receiver, Burks thrives from reduced or stacked alignments, evading press coverage. A pure acceleration player, his instant velocity defeats defensive backs who open late. His quick-footed, jittery two-step stem eats cushion rapidly. His route tree, while honest rather than broad, features vertical seams, deep overs, and return routes, complemented by sudden comebacks.
His hands are inconsistent through contact, leading to body-catches under pressure, but he excels at tracking and adjusting to deep balls over either shoulder. His true separator is elite short-area burst, supplying genuine home-run potential with the ball in his hands.
Spread RPO or Shanahan outside zone offenses would best integrate Burks' speed and explosiveness into their vertical passing attacks.
Initially a deep threat and return specialist with potential to develop into a high-volume slot receiver.
A run-heavy, pro-style offense that relies on 'X' receivers winning contested catches on outside routes.
Burks' elite speed and burst make him a valuable asset for offenses that prioritize vertical stretching and creating yards after the catch within a specific schematic role.
Deion Burks (Oklahoma) — Full 2025 Highlights
Complete senior-season reel from Norman, heavy on slot releases and vertical stems.
Deion Burks (Purdue) — 2023 Highlights
The Big Ten breakout year that established him as a downfield threat.
Deion Burks 2026 NFL Draft Highlight | Round 7 Pick 254
Draft-day reel released after Indianapolis took him with the 254th pick.
Burks projects as a specialist in a vertical slot burner role, offering a team rare straight-line speed (4.30 forty-yard dash) and explosive lower-body traits. His immediate utility likely comes from his ability to stretch the field, create from gadget touches, and contribute as a return man, providing depth and situational offensive firepower.
He arrived at Oklahoma as a 2023 Purdue breakout, catching 47 balls for 629 yards and seven scores in the Big Ten. His 2024 Oklahoma debut included three touchdown catches, but a lower-body injury limited him to five games that season. The 2025 comeback year saw volume with 57 catches for 620 yards, but less vertical production in an SEC offense that struggled to push the ball deep.
Evaluators were split on his projection due to his athletic profile versus his 5-9 3/4, 180-pound frame, which suggested a specialist role. While his speed and explosiveness hint at Day 2 potential, his slight build and 29 3/8-inch arms pushed him down boards, ultimately resulting in him being selected with pick No. 254.
- 01
Elite straight-line speed
A 4.30 forty with a 1.49 ten-yard split, and the tape matches it: corners who mishandle their pedal are beaten by the fifteen-yard mark.
- 02
Explosive lower half
A 42.5-inch vertical and a 10-11 broad jump translate to sudden stem work, hard plant-and-go breaks and finishing burst on any catch made in space.
- 03
Deep-ball tracking
Locates and adjusts over either shoulder on vertical shots, keeping stride length intact rather than gathering, which is how a 180-pounder wins contested downfield throws.
- 04
Release quickness
Wins the first three steps with jittery feet and tight footwork out of stacked or reduced alignments, giving press corners almost nothing to grab.
- 05
Proven vertical damage
His 2023 Purdue season produced 629 yards and seven touchdowns on 47 catches, a 13.4-yard average that showed what he does when a quarterback throws with anticipation.
- 01
Frame and length
At 5-9 3/4, 180 pounds with 29 3/8-inch arms, he owns one of the smallest catch radiuses in the class and gets swallowed by physical corners at the catch point.
- 02
Contested-catch results
Body-catches under duress and loses too many balls through contact, which caps his target volume on third down and inside the ten-yard line.
- 03
2025 efficiency dip
Fifty-seven catches yielded only 620 yards, an anemic 10.9 per reception for a receiver whose entire case is field-stretching explosiveness.
- 04
Durability record
A lower-body injury limited him to five games in 2024 and lingered into the finale, and a frame this slight invites the same question every autumn.
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Purdue | 4 | 1 | 26 | 0 |
| 2022 | Purdue | 14 | 15 | 149 | 0 |
| 2023 | Purdue | 12 | 47 | 629 | 7 |
| 2024 | Oklahoma | 5 | 31 | 245 | 3 |
| 2025 | Oklahoma | 13 | 57 | 620 | 4 |
| Career | — | 48 | 151 | 1669 | 14 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- John MateerQB24%
- Michael Hawkins Jr.QB14%
- Isaiah SategnaWR12%
#7 of 18 tracked contributors · Production leaned on volume · Offense explosiveness 1.24 (p51) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Honors
- Oklahoma single-game record-tying three receiving touchdowns in his Sooners debut vs. Temple (2024)
- Led Purdue in receiving touchdowns (2023)
- Purdue primary kick returner, 19.9 yards per return (2022)
A gadget and return specialist who survives on speed, special teams value and a handful of designed touches per game.
The undersized burner who becomes a real vertical weapon once paired with a quarterback willing to throw him open downfield.
A pure track profile that never solves press or contested catches and churns between rosters despite the timed speed.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
There is a version of Deion Burks that never gets to the seventh round. It existed for one night in August 2024, when a Purdue transfer nobody in the SEC had accounted for caught three touchdown passes in his Oklahoma debut and made the sport briefly feel simple. Scouts who were in Norman that week left with the same note: the acceleration is not college-grade. He hits full speed by his third step, he eats a corner cushion before the route stem is finished, and he plays with the confidence of someone who has never been caught from behind. The combine only confirmed it — 4.30 in the forty, a 1.49 split, a 42.5-inch vertical that ranked among the best at the position.
Everything after that night worked against him. A lower-body injury ended his 2024 in November after five games, and the 2025 return produced the strangest line of his career: a personal-best 57 catches for just 620 yards, an average that collapsed on a receiver whose entire identity is vertical damage. Some of that was context, since Oklahoma spent the fall as a below-median explosive-play offense that rarely asked him to run past anyone; much of it was the physical reality of a 180-pound receiver with 29-inch arms who cannot consistently win a contested throw. Indianapolis is not paying for the ceiling. They are paying for a specific job description: an emergency vertical element, a designed-touch option on jet motion and screens, and a return candidate with a real Big Ten track record in that role. Burks has to prove he can hold weight through a season, catch cleanly with a defender attached and survive the collisions that come with kick coverage. If he does, the speed alone keeps him employed for a decade. If he does not, he becomes another timed athlete whose best football happened in college.