With Chip Kelly finalizing his 53-man roster in lieu of Saturday’s deadline, it’s no surprise that Trey Burton has secured the third tight end spot behind Brent Celek and Zach Ertz. A former 2014 undrafted free agent out of the University of Florida, Burton should have a bright and promising future with the Philadelphia Eagles, largely due to his sheer athleticism and the versatility he has to line up at multiple positions on the field.
Simply put, Burton is Kelly’s kind of player.
He’s a former high school quarterback who played quarterback, fullback, wide receiver and tight end for Urban Meyer’s Gators. Burton was unable to beat out James Casey for the Eagles’ No. 3 tight end spot last summer, but still made the 53-man roster as the fourth tight end. He played well enough that the Eagles let Casey walk in free agency, and it’s likely Burton eventually becomes the top backup to Zach Ertz for Philadelphia.
Burton is an undersized tight end at 6’2”, 235 pounds, but he’s not solely a tight end. Last year, Kelly lined him up at halfback and gave him five carries at the end of a game. Burton is a standout special teams player (scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt last year), and a prototypical NFL H-back. He’s been a star this preseason, catching two touchdown passes against Green Bay, despite playing with what was later confirmed to be a broken thumb.
Kelly has even proclaimed Burton to be his emergency quarterback, given the trade of 2013 seventh-rounder Matt Barkley and surprising release of Tim Tebow.
Watch Burton’s high school highlights tape, and you see a player who can make plays all over the field.
Burton ran a 4.62 40-yard dash coming out of college and his SPARQ score (a measure of overall athletic ability) places him in the 76th percentile. He led his positional group in three-cone drill time (7.14 seconds) and 20-yard shuttle (4.32). There was even a game in college when Burton ran the ball five times, scored on all five carries, caught a touchdown, and threw a 42-yard pass. He was a steal of an undrafted free-agent acquisition last offseason, and if anyone will know how to get the most out of Burton, it’s Kelly.
Barring injury, Jordan Matthews will lead the 2015 Eagles in receptions and receiving yards, but it’s a logjam of players after that. It could be Nelson Agholor or Zach Ertz or Josh Huff or Brent Celek or one of those running backs, and there’s a good chance Burton is heavily in the mix.
Burton won’t be a 50-catch candidate, but he will play a high percentage of snaps. After participating in just six offensive plays a year ago, it’s not unreasonable to think Burton could play at least 300 this year. After all, Casey saw action in 173 last year, per PFF, and Burton is a better athlete who offers more versatility.
The key to Burton seeing offensive snaps will be his ability to block; this is what has kept the veteran Celek on the roster and kept Ertz as a backup, despite Ertz’s superior pass-catching abilities. If Burton can enhance his blocking skills, the Eagles will have themselves a real steal.
