Another potential first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft has set his sights on his professional career. Arkansas wide receiver Treylon Burks tweeted that he will opt of the Razorbacks’ upcoming bowl game and forego his senior year.
Burks had a hugely productive career during his three years in Arkansas. The high-end prospect’s junior year was his best. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound wideout tallied 67 catches for 1,123 yards and 11 touchdowns, along with 112 yards and another score on the ground, this season.
The SEC figures to send a few first-round-caliber receivers into the 2022 draft pool. Burks’ yardage total ranked fourth in the conference, behind the likes of Alabama stars Jameson Williams and John Metchie. Burks, however, is listed as ESPN’s sixth-highest-ranked receiver — behind Williams but ahead of Metchie — and checks in at No. 24 overall in Mel Kiper’s latest 2022 draft rankings.
The No. 22-ranked team in the country according to the final AP rankings, Arkansas will play Penn State on New Year’s Day in the Outback Bowl. Burks joins Oregon pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux as Round 1-level talents who intend to skip their team’s bowl game to concentrate on pre-draft training. They will certainly not be the last among the 2022 crop.
Doesn’t Metchie have a torn up knee? Thought that happened during the UGA game.
It did
Burks is the best WR in this draft class. He will be a stud in the NFL.
Another one skipping his team’s Bowl game to prepare for the draft. NFL draft eligibility rules need to be changed to prevent this from becoming a trend and ruining college football.
Maybe college football as we know it deserves to be ruined then.
Too many meaningless bowl games ruin college football more than this trend.
Billions are made off of these kids’ backs and you’re going to criticize his decision to secure and protect his financial future? Go pound sand!
@sleepy bear, you’ll be pleased to learn that I pound sand quite frequently. It’s a healthy part of my regular conditioning training. In Martial Arts we’re taught to live by concepts like honesty, loyalty, integrity and responsibility. Money does not rule our lives.
Is judging other people’s decisions also part of your lifestyle?
As a football fan I’m entitled to my opinion just as much as the next guy.
Seems like a ‘one size fits all’ thought. Everyone has different responsibilities, loyalties, etc. Maybe he has a family who is depending on him to make it professionally. You go to college to try to take the next step professionally, it just so happens this young man’s professional endeavor is in football.
This kid is staring at something that will set himself and family up for the rest of their lives. What does he gain by playing?
Your entertainment >>> his financial future?
Unless schools want to adopt a policy where if a player gets hurt during a meaningless bowl game they have insurance to cover his potential lost earnings, the system won’t change. The schools make PLENTY of money off these guys. If players have a chance to jump to the NFL and make some money (especially the guys who stand to make generational money), the schools are just going to have to go with, “Well… we already got ours. Their turn.”
I used to be on the party line that said, “Stay in school and get your degree!” But once Willis Mchagee got hurt in his final bowl game, I flipped 180. Now they can go back to school and finish their degree once their “Once in a lifetime” opportunity comes and goes.
Totally agree
The point of school is to secure meaningful employment. If that employment is ready for you it’s time to move on and embrace it.
Especially with the risks of injury