NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Monday that the Tennessee Titans receiver Treylon Burks will be released from the injured reserve. This should ring some alarm bells for Green Bay Packers fans, as Burks was
very much in the conversation to be selected by the team when he was a draft prospect back in 2022.
As we all know, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur loves bigger receivers
. At 225 pounds, Burks certainly doesn’t lack in size.Beyond that, Burks was also a pre-draft visitor for Green Bay during the 2022 cycle. As we’ve covered in the past, the Packers frequently target players whom they brought in on visits when they’re available, be it in the draft, undrafted free agency or when they’re available to Green Bay later on down the line. Since 2022, when the Packers changed up their visitor strategy, Green Bay has added 30 pre-draft visitors to its roster, one way or another. The most recent examples of this are the trading for tackle Darian Kinnard and the pick-up of practice squad tight end Josh Whyle, two players who took visits with the team several years ago. Whyle, by the way, had previously spent the last three training camps with the Titans, the same team Burks is leaving.
Then, there’s how the 2022 draft played out. Remember, that was the year that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers believed that the team was going to take a receiver in the first round. According to Rapoport, Burks was the player that Rodgers and the Packers had circled with one of their two first-round picks that year. Instead, Burks was picked 18th overall by the Titans, four slots before Green Bay was on the clock at 22nd overall — a pick they used to take linebacker Quay Walker. The Packers wound up trading up to the early second round to pick receiver Christian Watson on Day 2.
So there’s a lot of smoke around Green Bay’s interest in Burks, at least back in 2022, but things have certainly changed with the former Arkansas receiver’s career projection. Through three seasons, Burks has only played in 27 games, recording 53 receptions for 699 yards and a touchdown over that time.
In a lot of ways, Burks is a similar type of player to current rookie third-round pick Savion Williams. Is it redundant to pick up Burks, especially when Christian Watson has returned to practice and Jayden Reed is expected to be back with the team later on in the season?
Including those injured Packers, the receiver room already has seven 53-man-roster-caliber players under contract for the 2025 season.
Still, Burks is only a 25-year-old and came into the league after three straight years of All-SEC honors. One reason he is available is that he broke his collarbone in July, leading to him being placed on the injured reserve. Per Rapoport’s report, Burks is now healthy and has been cleared for football activities, if the Packers want to take a cheap swing on a former first-round pick.
If you’re wondering if he can help the Packers’ return game on special teams, Burks has returned one kick return for 21 yards at the NFL level. With that being said, he did handle 13 punt returns for 134 yards and 11 kickoff returns for 226 yards at the college level, with 22 of those 24 returns coming during his freshman season in 2019. That year, he was voted as the SEC’s second-team return specialist by the conference’s coaches, behind only Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle, a future first-round pick, and Kentucky’s Lynn Bowden, a future third-round pick.
