Chicago Bears 2022 NFL Draft: Treylon Burks Could be a Steal

In the 2022 NFL Draft, wide receiver prospect Treylon Burks’ stock is falling. He could fall into the second round giving the Chicago Bears a chance at getting a steal.

The Chicago Bears met this week with one of the top wide receiver prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft. That receiver is Treylon Burks.

Does that mean there might be a trade in the works? Not really. General manager Ryan Poles already showed that he’s doing this rebuild through the draft. With only six picks this year, he won’t sacrifice any (or go into next year’s draft) to get a top-notch player.

No, the Bears aren’t going up to get Burks. Burks might come down to end up with the Bears.

As is the case in every draft, the scouts start to nitpick prospects and some aspects that haven’t been holding them back suddenly become a big deal. With Burks, it started with his route-running. Scouts didn’t like that he still needs some polishing as a route runner.

Then, in the NFL Combine, Burks ran a slow 4.55-40. That turned off many scouts. Now it seems that Burks could fall into the second round.

The Bears are preparing for that situation. If Burks falls to 39, where Chicago has its first pick of the draft, they’d be crazy not to select him.

There was talk that Deebo Samuels of the San Francisco 49ers wants out. He’d be a great fit with the Bears. However, in order to acquire him, the team would need to give up critical draft assets. Also, they’d have to give him a big contract. That is something that Poles just won’t do at the moment. He’s in the business of acquiring more draft picks, not less. In addition, he isn’t ready to spend big bucks on players yet.

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That being the case, why not pick up a player who closely resembles Samuel and have him under control for four seasons?

That’s who Burks is. In fact, he’s a bigger version of Samuel. Samuel is 6-feet tall and weighs 215 pounds. On the other hand, Burks is 6-foot-3 and weighs 225 pounds.

In his three-year career at Arkansas, Burks had 146 catches for 2,399 and 18 touchdowns. Despite the talk about his lack of speed, he averaged over 16 yards per catch in each season.

There are things more than just speed that go into being a good receiver. There is toughness, catch radius, catching ability, and creating separation. Burks has all those tools. Also, he has incredibly huge hands (size 4XL). It seems as if he plays with baseball gloves on.

Burks would be the perfect outside receiver. Additionally, he can be of great help in Justin Fields‘ development. Imagine Fields’ top targets being Darnell Mooney and Burks.

Burks might not have broken speed records at the Combine but I prefer looking at game film. He played in the best conference in college football, the Southeastern Conference, and thrived. For example, his game in 2021 against Alabama resulted in 8 catches for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Treylon Burks just outran the entire state of Alabama for @RazorbackFB. pic.twitter.com/X1k1gb7L89

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 20, 2021

Furthermore, he made incredible catches, showed how crazy his catch radius was, and even ran the ball as a running back (in 2021 he averaged eight yards per carry).

The Bears had a similar situation in 2020 when they had cornerback Jaylon Johnson drop on their laps in the second round. Johnson had a first-round grade but teams felt he was an injury risk. The Bears took him and are happy with the results so far.

Chicago could have a repeat situation with Burks this year. Should it happen, they need to do the same and help Fields and the offense.