Overview

Position: WR

College: Missouri

Class: Junior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 206 lbs.

Arm length: 31 1/4″

Hand size: 8 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.41 sec.

10-yard split: 1.54 sec.

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: N/A

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Explosive skillset. Solid overall build. Great speed and acceleration. Heavy slot usage. Very quick release footwork to create early separation. Crisp on short out routes and underneath route cuts in general. Soft hands. Exceptional catch focus. Very good ability to bring in slightly off-target passes on underneath routes. Reliable on short curls over the middle. Good smoothness breaking on corner routes. Ran plenty of deep crossing routes. Dangerous on slot fades. Stacks cornerbacks both from the slot and on the outside. Very smooth on out-and-up double moves. Deceptive on stutter-and-go routes. Tracks the ball very well down the field. Able to adjust for back-shoulder throws and flashes high-point ability down the field. Will reach up for a pass with a defender bearing down. Turns routes up the field into open space on broken plays. Featured on tunnel screens. Used in various motions and backfield alignments. Saw designed touches on pop passes and motion handoffs. Mismatch running routes out of the backfield. Quick turning into a runner. Will steer himself while making a catch to force the first defender to miss. Excellent agility with the ball. Rare stop-and-start ability as a runner. Slippery to create missed tackles. Physical running through contact when he gets going. Impressive strength and balance to break tackles. Flashed good connection strength as a blocker when committed. High confidence in single coverage. Pointed for the ball down the field on a touchdown versus Georgia (2023).

 

Weaknesses

Ran a simple route tree with limited intermediate production. Sometimes knocked off the tracks too easily and can get pushed out of bounds. Could be better fighting through coverage when the ball is left inside on downfield passes. Needs to avoid going backwards too much trying to make something happen with the ball. More of a push blocker that doesn’t look to engage/sustain. Not a committed blocker for the most part.

 

NFL comparison

DJ Moore

 

Conclusion

Overall, Burden is an explosive weapon that can make plays down the field but really shines with the ball in his hands. NFL teams should incorporate him into the offense with a heavy emphasis on designed touches while he further develops as an all-around route runner.

 

Big Board ranking: #24 | Positional ranking: #4