
Dwain McFarland analyzes the Rookie Super Model's profile of wide receiver Deion Burks.

Deion Burks, the rookie WR prospect out of out of Oklahoma, checks in as the WR22 in the release of the 2026 Rookie Super Model.
I've profiled 25 of the top wide receivers in the class with individual Prospect Profiles from their Super Model data. For the full WR class, check out the 2026 WR Rookie Super Model.
If you're new to the model, here is an introductory breakdown of the Rookie Super Model. All of this data is integrated into our free NFL Draft Guide, full of big board rankings, mock drafts and more.
You can find a glossary of terms and stats used in this breakdown at the bottom of the prospect profile.
Burks was a three-star recruit out of Michigan in the 2021 class. He was at Purdue for three seasons. He transferred to Oklahoma as a four-star portal prospect in 2024.
Ultimately, Burks never registered a high-end RYPTPA season: Redshirt → 0.26 → 1.60 → 1.58 → 1.42. He is a profile where the Production Rating is at odds with the Film Rating.
If you are looking for a silver lining in the production department, it is this: his targeted passer rating improved to 91.2 and 94 at Oklahoma. Still, even if we used those numbers, he would be around the 40th percentile.
Burks finished his career with a 10.8 aDOT (48th percentile), and his targets were evenly distributed across all buckets. However, his 4.7 YAC was average (-0.3) for his aDOT. He also struggled in contested-catch situations, with a 37% catch rate and a 6% drop rate.
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com has Burks' prospect grade at 6.18, which is a good backup with a chance to develop into a starter. Zierlein sees Burks as a zone-savvy player, but his career TPRR against zone was below average at 19%, so the data and film are out of whack.
He also sees him as a tough contested-catch player, but that doesn't align with his low contested-catch rate. Zierlein noted concerns about his ability to win on vertical routes.
This is all good stuff. A big reason the Super Model includes a Film Rating is to balance things out. But the bottom line is that these areas of Burks' games are a question mark, given the contrast.
Burks tested well at the NFL Scouting Combine, running a 4.30-second 40-yard dash (88th percentile) and leaping 42.5 inches in the vertical. But the NFL is littered with small, fast guys who weren't great players.
Burks' closest Super Model comps:
Bottom line: The Rookie Super Model projects Burks as a late Day 3 pick. He didn't get going until Year 3, and even then, his numbers were average. Burks has a lot to fix to become a good player at the next level, making him a low-end WR6 prospect in fantasy football.
