Film Room: Breaking Down Ohio State WR Commit Caleb Burton
Ohio State’s success recruiting the state of Texas continued as the Buckeyes landed a commitment from Del Valle (Texas) High School star Caleb Burton.
The Scarlet and Gray are pretty much lapping the field in the Class of 2022 right now. This is their fifth verbal commitment from a Top 50 prospect nationally. By contrast, no other school has more than one at this point.
Let’s take a look at what makes Burton one of the nation’s premier wideouts in the 2022 class.
CALEB BURTON, WIDE RECEIVER
Height: 6-0
Weight: 165
High School: Del Valle (Texas) High School
SIZE-FRAME-STRENGTH
If you’re going to have a criticism of Burton it’s his lack of girth. He has enough height and length, but he’s skinny and only about 165 pounds right now. Of course, he’s still just a junior in high school, so there is plenty of time for him to fill out and growing into his body.
Burton isn’t going to make a living running over defenders, but he’s got a surprisingly strong lower body, which allows him to pick up yards after contact in space. He competes as a route runner, but against older players he’ll need to keep adding up body strength in order to better handle downfield jams and re-routes.
SPEED
Burton plays fast but I wouldn’t put him into the “burner” category, at least not yet. The playing speed, however, is the key, and Burton gets to full speed in a hurry. This is true as both a route runner and once he gets the ball in his hands. He has enough speed to stretch the defense, and his ability to accelerate out of cuts is exceptional.
The Del Valle standout shows a good second gear down the field, and as he continues to physically mature you can expect to see another gear get added to his repertoire.
ATHLETIC SKILLS
This is the part of the evaluation where you see what truly makes Burton a special prospect. Burton is an exceptional athlete that possesses tremendous agility and body control. These traits play a big part in his playing speed being as good as it is.
His agility, balance and acceleration make him a highly effective player after the catch. Burton is a smooth athlete, but he can be sudden when he wants to be, and he shows that when he is making cuts in space.
ROUTE RUNNING
Burton is one of the most advanced young route runners I’ve ever evaluated. You rarely see juniors that play the game like he does, and I expect him to be even better when he returns as a senior from his season-ending knee injury.
Burton’s agility, balance and body control are vital aspects to his effective route running. He shows a good initial burst off the line and he can quickly eat up the cushion of defenders. Burton attacks leverage effectively and understands how to use his stem and top-end technique to manipulate defenders.
The Del Valle pass catcher shows impressive top-end technique, especially on vertical speed routes like slants, posts and in cuts. Burton’s ability to quickly accelerate out of cuts allows him to get immediate separation, and his speed is such that at the prep level defenders just can’t recover.
He does a good job sinking his hips on stop/comeback routes, and with a bit more nuance he’ll be even better with these types of routes. Burton shows a good feel for the position, showing mature coverage recognition. He quickly diagnoses the difference between man and zone, and he quickly settles into open spots against the zone and shows a firm grasp on using proper depth releases to get free over top of defenders.
There are a few too many snaps where it is obvious after just a couple of steps that Burton is running some sort of comeback or stop route. He’ll telegraph those routes with his release by not showing the same urgency off the line, his stride shortens and you can see him looking for his drop point. As he continues to get top-notch coaching you’ll see him improve this part of his game.
BALL SKILLS
Burton is an extremely confident pass catcher with exceptional hands. Burton has strong hands, but what truly stands out to me is how fast they are. He does a great job shooting his hands at the ball and catching it away from his body, but he waits until the last second to shoot to the ball, which is rare for such a young player. The only time I see him body catch is in the quick game when the ball is thrown into his gut, which is when you want to see a receiver body catch.
What surprised me most when breaking down Burton’s game is his ball skills down the field and his ability to win contested throws. I saw a guy who is listed at 6-0 and 165 pounds, so I expected to see a wideout with top-level athleticism. I did not expect to see a wideout who consistently wins contested throws and was as good in the red zone as Burton showed himself to be.
Of course, some of that will be harder in college when he’s playing bigger and better prospects, but his ball skills grade out as elite. Burton possesses the toughness to catch the ball in traffic, and his ability to track the deep ball is impressive. I also like the fact that Burton doesn’t slow down as much as most young wideouts when he looks back to find the football.
INTANGIBLES
Burton has been an incredibly productive player in high school, hauling in 82 passes for 1,515 yards and 18 touchdowns as a freshman and sophomore in high school. This is a young man with impressive God-given ability, but he’s also a well-schooled young athlete. Burton has clearly received good coaching at the prep level, and he takes that coaching and uses his outstanding tools to dominate.
His knee injury that cost him all but one game of his junior season is concerning, and I’ll want to see how he bounces back physically as a senior. The good news is he’ll be a second year removed from that injury by the time he arrives at Ohio State.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Burton is the ideal prospect for the Ohio State offense. His combination of precise route running, high football IQ, top-level ball skills and after-the-catch ability is tailor-made for Ryan Day’s offense. It is rare to find such a poised and well-schooled young athlete, but Burton is far from a finished product. There are still parts of his game that can be developed, and his body isn’t close to being where it will be after a few more years in the weight room.
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