Treylon Burks Shows Off Speed That's Faster Than NFL's Best Last Season

Treylon Burks was supposed to be the player that made the trade of A.J. Brown a transaction the Tennessee Titans could stomach, but it hasn't worked out so far. Burks instead has battled bouts with asthma, fought poor conditioning, was slowed by a knee injury, and then another.

It's fair to say Burks, now a third-year veteran, has seen his career get off to slow start.

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 02: Treylon Burks #16 of the Tennessee Titans runs during an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans at Acrisure Stadium on November 02, 2023 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

Treylon Burks Takes Off

But the Titans are giving Burks another chance to show he can reach the potential he showed at Arkansas and has flashed erratically as a pro. And during the club's current offseason conditioning program, Burks has shown the Titans and new head coach Brian Callahan they should be hopeful. 

"…His work that he's put in has been really impressive," Callahan said Thursday. "Just to give you guys some context: Tuesdays are our harder days of our four-day work week. It's a really heavy day. 

"And so, the load on the players is high. And what I mean by that is acceleration, max speeds and yardage. And so, Treylon, I think, ran 3,591 yards on Tuesday. And then hit our top speed, and team-leading top speed at 22.6 miles-an-hour in practice."

NFL teams have monitoring devices that players wear to track their so-called load, both in practice and games. These devices sure-enough measure a player's speed.

And if Callahan is quoting the speed Burks reached correctly, well, the wide receiver was leaving blisters on the Titans practice field. Because the speed Burks reached is not only elite, but faster than anyone reached in an NFL game last season.

HOUSTON, TX - DECEMBER 31: Treylon Burks #16 of the Tennessee Titans looks on from the field an NFL football game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on December 31, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Faster Than D.K. Metcalf Or Tyreek Hill

The fastest speed any player reached in a game last season was registered by D.K. Metcalf in Week 13. The Seahawks receiver reached a speed of 22.23 MPH on a 73-yard touchdown against the Cowboys, per Next Generation (Next Gen) statistics.

The next fastest times were delivered by Bengals running back Chase Brown (22.05) on a 54-yard touchdown in Week 14 and Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill (22.01) on a 64-yard reception in Week 5.

Said another way, Burks was running half-a-mile-per-hour faster than Tyreek Hill did on that fateful pass against the Giants.

So it's notable in a major way. But it's also worthy of context.

Burks reached his top-end speed in practice. We talkin' about practice.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - DECEMBER 24: Treylon Burks #16 of the Tennessee Titans runs the ball during the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Nissan Stadium on December 24, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Seahawks defeated the Titans 20-17.  (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

 Whatever The Context, Burks Was Flying

He wasn't wearing pads to slow him down. But it must also be noted he did this in a practice that didn't include defenders chasing him – motivating him to speed up to not get hit.

Do with that what you will. But it doesn't change the fact Burks was flying.

"So, super impressive workload and performance," Callahan said. "And so, he's had a really good offseason. I'm excited about what he can bring for us. I meant it when I said that the other day, that I think he's going to have a role to play."

About that:

The Titans this offseason signed Calvin Ridley. And soon they'll announce as official the addition of slot receiver Tyler Boyd. These additions come to a receiver corps that already included DeAndre Hopkins.

"He's going to play everything," Callahan said of Burks. "We've told him that from the beginning. He's going to play inside, he's going to play outside, and he's got to carve out a role for himself." 

It definitely helps that Burks is healthy and apparently in good shape.

"That's always valuable when the guys are healthy," Callahan added. "They get a chance to really lean into the work. They can really improve. It's hard sometimes when you're injured to learn and then not be able to do it. 

"And so, being healthy allows you to take all the things that we talk about and be able to go on the grass and execute it."

Burks is indeed executing. He's executing faster than any NFL player did on any given play in 2023.