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Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in WR Deion Burks

The Sooners added a blazing fast and productive wide receiver from Purdue who "made some phenomenal catches" for the Boilermakers in 2023.

John E. Hoover

Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in WR Deion Burks
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in WR Deion Burks /
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Did Oklahoma just land another Andrel Anthony?

A wide receiver who didn’t get a ton of action at the beginning of his career in the Big Ten Conference but used his elite speed to create head-turning plays — sounds like Anthony, who left Michigan to become a Sooner last year. It also sounds like Deion Burks, who left Purdue to don the Crimson and Cream this year.

“I can tell you that, anecdotally, coach (Ryan) Walters said he’s the fastest guy on the football team,” said Purdue play-by-play announcer Tim Newton. “I don’t know what his 40 time is, but it’s fast.”

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Burks was by far the Boilermakers’ best receiver in 2023, leading the team with 47 catches, 629 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

Deion Burks
Deion Burks :: Alex Martin/Journal and Courier-USA TODAY NETWORK

After redshirting and playing in just four games in 2021, Burks played in all 14 games in 2022 and made 15 catches for 149 yards. The former 3-star recruit out of Belleville, MI, comes to Oklahoma with two years of eligibility remaining.

“We were looking forward to having him back this year, “ Newton said, “but the portal giveth and the portal taketh.”

OU needs to replace leading receiver Drake Stoops in 2024, but that’s it. The rest of the Sooners’ receiver corps is expected to come back intact next season, including Anthony, the speedy transfer from Michigan who had emerged as the team’s top wideout before a knee injury ended his season against Texas.

Newton, who’s also the school’s Director of External Relations and Communications and has been with Purdue since 1989, said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Burks take on a big role in Norman because of his elite speed.

“And he used that speed to his advantage,” Newton said. “He was able to get down the field and get some great catches.”

Deion Burks
Deion Burks :: Alex Martin/Journal and Courier-USA TODAY NETWORK

Burks sustained what looked like a serious neck injury in the 2022 Citrus Bowl loss to LSU. He laid on the field for several minutes, was stabilized and taken off with a spine board on the back of a cart. Many in West Lafayette wondered if it would affect his football career moving forward.

But after no structural damage was found — former coach Brian Brohm said he had “some tenderness in the neck area” — Burks returned with no ill effects.

“We didn’t really know what to expect coming into the spring last year,” Newton said,” but he wound up leading the team in receiving, had seven touchdown catches and really, at times, flashed brilliance.”

In fact, he had the best game of his career in the 2023 season opener, 152 yards receiving and two touchdowns, including a jaw-dropping, 84-yard catch and run in a loss to Fresno State.

“He bounced off a couple of defenders and then outran the rest of the defense,” Newton said. “It was a big-time play.”

Burks’ numbers were up and down all season, but he finished the year with a career-high seven catches for 84 yards in a win over Indiana.

Deion Burks
Deion Burks :: Alex Martin/Journal and Courier-USA TODAY NETWORK

One of the keys to Burks’ bounce back in 2023 was his offseason work ethic. Newton said he dedicated himself to the weight room, added 15 pounds of muscle and even posted a 485-pound modified squad, “which for a guy his size is pretty good.”

But for whatever reason, week-to-week consistency seemed to elute Burks last season. 

One week after his big breakout against Fresno State, he caught just one pass in a win over Virginia Tech. In a three-game stretch against Ohio State, Nebraska and Michigan, Burks caught just eight passes for 73 yards but did score two touchdowns. He caught six for 73 against Wisconsin and five for 83 and a score against Illinois in back-to-back weeks, then finished the season with 15 catches for 160 yards and a TD in a three-game span.

“So he had flashes of brilliance,” Newton said. “At times, he lacked a little bit of consistency. He had a couple of key drops, particularly late in some ballgames. But he did turn out to be probably our biggest downfield weapon. And I think in an offense where you really throw the ball around and spread the field and spread the ball around, I think he can be a really, really valuable asset.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Burks had eight dropped passes last season, which tied for the most among all Big Ten receivers.

“We were really excited after that opening game against Fresno State,” Newton said. “He had over 100 yards in that game. But then there would be games that he didn’t get any or very few catches. Part of it was he probably didn’t get thrown to as much as he should have. Because I think defenses were able to key on him somewhat. Purdue, as the season went on, lost a lot of receivers to injury. So it turned out to be a pretty depleted receiver corps at one point. So I think defenses were able to key on him because they knew he was the one guy that could probably beat them or stretch the field on them.”

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Burks ran sprints in high school track, so speed won’t be a big problem for him in the SEC. He ranked 10th in the Big Ten last year in yards after catch.

Newton said his toughness over the middle and his versatility are two elements that should help his transition into a playmaking role with the Sooners.

“He’s a guy who can definitely take the top off and really stretch the field,” Newton said. “He’s got downfield speed, and he’s got the ability to beat some people on downfield throws. And he made some phenomenal catches this year on some of those throws.

“He did go over the middle. He’s not afraid to stick his nose in and pick up a tough catch. But most of his long plays were outside the numbers or around the numbers to the sideline.

“I think Oklahoma’s getting a pretty good football player.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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