Time is Now for Titans WR Treylon Burks

Third-year Tennessee Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks moves to the top of the pecking order due to the injury of three-time All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins. Due to the signings of Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd, the Arkansas product had been consigned to the second string. However, Burks has been making good progress in training camp.

General Manager Ran Carthon has taken notice.

“I think Treylon’s really grown up,” Carthon told the team’s website reporter Jim Wyatt. “He’s completely bought in. … I think he’s in a really good spot.”

Burks over his first two seasons hasn’t lived up to his No. 18 overall first-round pick status. In his first two years with the Titans, the Warren Arkansas native has only caught 58.3% of his targets for his career and only caught 53.3% of his targets in 2023.

If Hopkins is out for the full six weeks, that would take him out of action for the Titans’ season opener against the Chicago Bears on September 8. It would also put him in jeopardy of missing their Week 2 game against
the New York Jets.

Burks has a lot to prove this season, and he’s clearly put in the work this off-season coming into camp a lot leaner and ready to make a difference.

“A little bit of everything, running, lifting, eating right,” Burks told team reporter Jim Wyatt. “I have a newborn on the way. I guess it’s the dad bod. I’ll let y’all ask coach about my weight, but I am down a lot. And I feel a lot better. … I just dedicated myself to it, and just wanted to grind. It’s just something different that I wanted to try, and obviously it has helped a lot since we started camp. I started doing it at the end of OTAs and I kept it going all the way through. I wanted to change my body drastically, and I’ve done that.”

It will be interesting to see what Burks does with his increased role within the offense this Preseason. The 24-year-old Pro appears to be in the best shape of his career, and that should help his chances of earning the trust of the coaching staff and quarterback Will Levis.

The Ole Miss star has only caught 49 passes for 665 yards and a touchdown since entering the league.