Did Colts Find 7th Round Steal In Burks?

Did Colts Find 7th Round Steal In Burks?

INDIANAPOLIS – In the days after the draft, Chris Ballard couldn’t believe it.

Ballard was busy watching Purdue film of his newest wideout, Deion Burks, thinking why was this guy available at pick No. 254?

Some medical questions?

Getting pushed down the board for a lack of height?

Ballard shakes his head.

“Fortunate for us,” the Colts GM says. “He’s fast, he’s explosive. We think he’s got a real chance to help us.”

The Colts do have open wide receiver playing time behind Alec Pierce and Josh Downs.

And while Burks should get chances to earn some playing time there, him extending those duties to special teams will be key.

It would be very well served if Burks could provide some punt and/or kick return trust.

At Purdue, Burks did return 14 kicks in his sophomore season. But that’s the only kick/punt roles he had in his 5 years at Purdue/Oklahoma.

“We’ll try to get (Burks) worked in the return game too, even though he hasn’t done a lot of it, we think he’s got upside as a returner,” Ballard says.

If Burks could show that, would that make him more enticing to keep on the roster than Anthony Gould, who is still with the team but hasn’t etched out much of an actual wide receiver role in two NFL seasons.

Count Shane Steichen has someone very intrigued by Burks.

“Well, I think the first thing is speed,” the Colts head coach says. “I mean, he’s a 4.2 (40-yard dash) speed guy that can fly. When you put the ball in his hands, he can make plays with it and that’s what you want. You want to create explosive plays, get the ball in this guy’s hands any way you can.

“When you watch him versus press, even for being a shorter guy, I mean, he can get off press coverage. He’s got a good, quick first step. Good release, good burst. And then the separation at the top of routes is really good as well.”