Sooners wide receiver among The Athletic's freaks in college football

It didn’t take long for transfer wide receiver Deion Burks to make his presence felt in Norman. He wowed onlookers in spring practice and stole the show in the Oklahoma Sooners’ Spring Game. With fall camp in full effect, Burks hasn’t slowed. He continues to build on the connection he has with first-year starting quarterback Jackson Arnold.

His speed and athleticism have been evident, even dating to his time at Purdue, but he’s looking to take that to another level and parlay it into a huge season for the Sooners.

Every year, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic (subscription required) reveals his top 100 “freaks” in college football, highlighting the nation’s best athletes and workout warriors from the offseason. Burks came in at No. 50 on the list.

The Purdue transfer was No. 95 on the list last season and then had a breakthrough season, leading the team with 47 receptions, 629 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. The 5-9, 190-pound junior from Michigan was an excellent get for the Sooners. Burks proved to be their 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. – Feldman, The Athletic

We knew Burks was fast, but his strength is a surprising revelation in Feldman’s piece. That strength is what allows him to be a wizard after the catch. Though the Sooners highlighted his deep threat ability during the spring, Burks will be able to use his speed, athleticism and strength to be a threat in the short area passing game and on jet sweeps and reverses.

He’s a big-time weapon SEC teams will have to figure out a way to slow. The problem is by allocating resources to containing Deion Burks, Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq and Andrel Anthony will get more favorable coverages, which should make things a whole lot easier for Arnold in the passing game.

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