Burks Measures Up With Big Night

The Tennessee Titans' first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft is now one of six rookie wide receivers with seven or more catches and one of five to top 100 yards receiving in a game.

Mark Hoffman / USA Today Sports

Treylon Burks finally has a statistical performance that matched up with his draft status. The numbers he put up Thursday put him near the top of this year’s rookie wide receivers.

The 18th overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft set career-highs with seven receptions and 111 yards, both of which led all receivers on either team, in the Tennessee Titans’ 27-17 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Through the first 10 weeks of the season, only five rookie wide receivers caught seven or more passes in a game. New Orleans’ Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson of the New York Jets each had two, and Green Bay’s Romeo Doubs, Indianapolis’ Alec Pierce and Atlanta’s Drake London all have one. London, Wilson and Olave were first-round picks and – in that order – the first three wide receivers off the board.

Burks also now joins Olave, Wilson, Pittsburgh’s George Pickens and Green Bay’s Christian Watson as the only rookie wide receivers with 100-yard games this season. Burks’ total is the third highest behind Olave in Week 3 (147 yards) and Wilson in Week 8 (115 yards).

With a pick acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in a trade Burks was the sixth wide receiver selected. A turf toe injury caused him to miss four of Tennessee’s first nine games. In the five he played, he caught 13 passes for 153 yards.

This was just his second game since he was removed from injured reserve, and it came on a short week with limited practice time. His seven receptions came on just eight targets.

“I would say that mistakes made during the week were corrected,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “And that’s the most important thing to me with Treylon was that he put a lot of time in from the time we left Nashville until the game started working with [wide receivers coach] Rob [Moore] making sure that those things that came up throughout the week were corrected.

“Give him credit for fixing those things and for understanding that mistakes are OK in practice as long as you get them corrected.”

In the first half against Green Bay, he had six catches for 60 yards. His 43-yard reception on the third play of the contest was another career-best – until his final catch, that is – and delivered the first of a season-high seven third-down conversions for Tennessee’s offense.

That alone matched Kyle Philips, another rookie, for the most by any Titans player (regardless of position) in a game this season.

Burks’ seventh reception came just ahead of the two-minute warning and covered 51 yards, the longest gain of the night for either team. After that, quarterback Ryan Tannehill took a knee three times to run out the clock.

“We were going to have to get a first down there in order run out the clock,” Tannehill said. “I had a one-on-one look out there with Treylon and was able to give him a chance, and Treylon made the play. So, I love to see it.”

Burks’ first and his last receptions were the two longest plays for either offense on the night.

He is now one of just three Tennessee players with at least 20 receptions on the season, and he is third on the team with 264 receiving yards.

“He’s eager to learn. I think his confidence is growing, which is huge,” Tannehill said. “We just want to keep progressing him and let him continue to make plays like he has been.”