Deion Burks And The Bucs
April 11th, 2026
Receiver Sterling Shepard (39 catches for the Bucs last season) remains a free agent.
Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht is one of the best in the business at drafting wide receivers.
The Bucs even significant contributions during the 2020 Super Bowl season from receivers Scotty Miller (Round 6) and Tyler Johnson (Round 5). Both still are on NFL rosters, and it’s rare for late-round picks to have long careers.
So considering Licht is undeniably good at picking college receivers, Joe is all in favor of Licht doing that again on Day 3 of the 2026 draft in two short weeks.
That brings Joe to University of Oklahoma receiver Deion Burks.
After today’s JoeBucsFan Show on WDAE radio and before Joe settled in for the Rays-Yankees game, Joe watched the wide receiver mock draft held by retired Panthers star receiver Steve Smith and NFL Network draft guru Daniel Jeremiah, the former Ravens, Eagles and Browns scout. What a fountain of information.
Burks didn’t make the cut for the mock, which was no surprise. He’s often projected as a fourth-round pick, but that doesn’t mean Burks failed to impress the Xs and Os guys. They love him.
Jeremiah noted how Burks is a sleeper and said “I got crushed by everybody” for putting him on a top-50 prospects list several weeks ago. Jeremiah ignored the blowback, he said, and emphasized Burks played for “statistically some of the worst quarterbacks you can play with” at Purdue and for a stretch at Oklahoma.
What Burks “did at Purdue showed me that they misused him. I was pretty surprised at how versatile he played outside,” Smith added.
Jermiah said Burks reminds him of longtime Patriots versatile slot receiver Deion Branch.
Of course, NFL fans largely know Burks for his ridiculous numbers at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. At 5-10, 180 pounds, Burks ran a 40-yard dash in 4.30 seconds and had a 42 1/2-inch vertical leap, tops among receivers. At Oklahoma, he had 57 catches for 620 yards last season and 4 touchdowns.
The Bucs don’t necessarily need another receiver, but that could change in a hurry, as it often seems to do. And Joe wonders how Burks might look as a gunner on special teams, or returning kicks.
For those wondering, Sterling Shepard (39 catches for the Bucs last season) remains a free agent.
Deion Burks: 26 reps bench (98th percentile) 42.5 vert (98th percentile) 131″ broad jump (92nd percentile) 1.49 10-yard (94% ) 4.30 40-yard (97%)
Reported to squat 540 LBS, benches 400 LBS and cleans 340 LBS. Ranked 50th on the Freaks list. 9.25 RAS score. FREAK. pic.twitter.com/Jz9sN4rNU6
— Price Carter (@priceacarter) April 5, 2026
April 11th, 2026 at 6:53 pm
Yep he got a nice wr3 in the 1st round last year
Was cool to see him pass on the defensive rookie of the year at a position of need also
April 11th, 2026 at 6:58 pm
Draft this guy. I’ll bet he’s a helluva BLOCKER too.
April 11th, 2026 at 7:00 pm
We still need a WR to replace Chris Godwin
And it’s best to draft one now, and groom him for Godwin job
April 11th, 2026 at 7:09 pm
Burks RAS score is 9.25, that’s really good
Zyon McCollum had a perfect 10 00 RAS score
OJ Howard had a 9.76 l think, or something like that
OJ was considered the freak of the draft
I don’t know why GMs slept on TJ Watt, in the same draft with Howard
His RAS score was 9.92, and he had superior measurements
And he was very productive at Iowa on the field
I never could figure that out
April 11th, 2026 at 7:13 pm
Sorry, l meant TJ at Wisconsin
April 11th, 2026 at 7:51 pm
Chris Bell WR, University of Louisville, could be had in the midrounds. Before his injury he would have been round 1 – 2 pick. Stud!
April 11th, 2026 at 8:13 pm
Keep an eye on DeAndre Proctor. He’s probably gonna go undrafted but he could be a sleeper & he’s a good size, too!
April 11th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
ABSURD!
The trend of Jason Lite , for this argument sake, of being sold as a genius by drafting broken toys and knock off versions of true NFL players is run its course and the franchise into the ground, what a GRIFT, and a few think he’s worthy of the ROH …. SMF’nH !
April 11th, 2026 at 8:27 pm
The Bucs actually DO need another receiver, but certainly not Burks. Our entire receiver roster is stacked with nothing but guys who excel in the slot. We need a big body, 50/50 ball receiver. Short of that, there’s zero use in drafting another sub-six foot receiver who can find openings in the middle of zone defenses
As far as drafting a Godwin replacement goes, we already have three of them.
April 11th, 2026 at 8:38 pm
My WR pick is Elijah Sarratt
That’s the guy l wanna see in a Buc uniform
April 11th, 2026 at 8:57 pm
If we trade down and have some extra picks, i def want this guy. I scouted him a while back and noted his strength and way of breaking tackles for more yards. Would be a great #4
April 11th, 2026 at 9:03 pm
I hear your pain Destinjohnny as at the time of the Egbuka pick I thought back to how Jason also grabbed OJ Howard in the same part of round one, passing on needs. However, Egbuka worked out well and many teams passed on the Defensive Rookie of the year, not just Tampa. Plus, Jason could have grabbed James Pearce like many wanted including some experts. Jason did okay with Egbuka though I hear you loud and clear Destinjohnny, just remember Jason just drafts players and then Bowles and his coaches take over from there. That is what worries me.
April 11th, 2026 at 9:21 pm
Funny to me Shepard is unsigned yet he had a better season than Mike Evans. Some fans beleive the season is over because we lost Evans.
April 11th, 2026 at 9:32 pm
Elijah Sarratt in RD 3
April 11th, 2026 at 9:33 pm
Mike Evans loss is our gain
April 11th, 2026 at 10:35 pm
I like the idea of Burks, but there’s a handful of tall X-WR types with speed in this draft that is much rather take a swing at. If you can’t have too many good CBs, same thing on the other side of the coin.
Give me Jeff Caldwell/Bryce Lance/Ted Hurst/Caleb Douglas
We got a short, compact-ish guy in Kam Johnson. Barely use him in the pass game, but he’s had some moments as a returner