Tennessee Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks has a lot riding on his young shoulders going into his first season.
After the Titans traded away A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles, the team needs an immediate impact out of Burks, who Tennessee can only hope is capable of doing so.
With that in mind, Burks figures to at least have a fairly significant role in his first season, which could lead to a productive rookie campaign.
And ESPN’s Mike Clay sees it going that way. He projects Burks will finish second in receiving yards among rookie wideouts with 893, and tied for second in touchdowns among all rookies.
Here’s what Clay had to say about the projected receiving yards total for Burks:
It shouldn’t be shocking to see four rookie receivers projected for over 800 yards. London (No. 8 overall) has the clearest path to massive usage with little competition for targets on the perimeter in Atlanta. Burks (No. 18) is in a similar spot in Tennessee after A.J. Brown was traded and with Robert Woods recovering from a torn ACL.
And his thoughts on Burks’ projected touchdown total:
Watson and Moore just missed the cut in our receiving yardage projections, but the two receivers will benefit from playing in high-scoring Green Bay and Kansas City offenses, respectively. Burks and Wilson won’t get quite as good quarterback play, but that will be offset a bit by high projected volume.
Veteran wide receiver Robert Woods is the logical choice to be the Titans’ top receiver, but barring a veteran addition before the 2022 season, Burks stands to finish right behind him in the pecking order.
Burks wasn’t the only Titans rookie Clay projected to finish in the top five among rookies at his position in yards. The ESPN analyst also projects quarterback Malik Willis will finish fourth in passing yards (191) and touchdowns (one).
As conservative as that projection might seem, we think even that amount of passing yards is a bit much. If anything, Willis will contribute with his legs via special packages, something head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t rule out.
It’s doubtful Willis sees the field much, if at all in his first season. We expect the Titans to carry Logan Woodside also in order to avoid Willis being one injury away from a starting role he likely won’t be ready for.
