Tennessee Titans fans should have renewed hope in Treylon Burks

The Tennessee Titans put Treylon Burks in a difficult situation when he was drafted, and his career has disappointing thus far due to recurring injuries and inconsistencies.

Any time Burks has built up momentum, there has always been an injury lurking around the corner to take that momentum away.

Some injuries like the concussions aren't his fault and those were unavoidable, but there have been some soft tissue things that might have been preventable if he was in better shape. This offseason, he was challenged by GM Ran Carthon and the coaching staff to get in the best shape of his life as he enters a pivotal third season.

Based on comments from Carthon and clips from Wednesday's practice, Burks has done exactly that.

This year is going to be a reset for some of the Titans' holdovers from the last regime. Burks, Chig Okonkwo, Nicholas Petit-Frere, and Kyle Philips are just a few of the players who are going to have to earn their jobs all over again.

Burks has passed the first test, but now he needs to show that he can thrive in his new role. When Carthon was talking about Burks on Tuesday, he said this about his new role,

"We added Tyler [Boyd], we added Calvin [Ridley], obviously [DeAndre Hopkins] was here, but for a young guy like that he still has vets that he can learn from. And again, with his size, speed, and explosiveness, he could be an X or a Z."

Carthon later added that Boyd would primarily be the slot receiver. Boyd was mentioned with the other two receivers because they all have veteran wisdom that they can share with Burks.

In the meantime, Burks is going to spend time outside of the starting lineup. In fact, if everything goes according to plan, Burks won't "start" a single game this season.

Instead, his job is going to be to make sure that he is available to give Ridley and Hopkins as many breaks as possible. That will allow Ridley and Hopkins to monitor their snaps and stay fresh so that they can be dominant at the end of the season when the Titans are hopefully making a playoff push.

At first glance, that sounds like a situation that only benefits the two veteran receivers, but the onus is on Burks to maximize his opportunities when they come. Too much was put on his plate following the A.J. Brown trade, and all of the expectations and injuries have weighed on him and cast a black cloud over his early career.

Fewer reps will hopefully give Burks a chance to spend a full season focusing on being a football player instead of splitting so much of his time between the practice field and the training room. Working on his craft and learning from a high-quality group of veterans should be great for his development.

That doesn't mean Burks is going to be put on the back burner for 2024. Setting new career highs for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns is within the realm of possibility.

How visible will Burks be this year? Well, Wednesday was the first practice of training camp and he made an impressive catch from Will Levis where he caught the ball away from his body and then made a sharp turn upfield to get yards after the catch, according to media members in attendance.

If Levis is throwing to Burks, that means that Burks is at least getting some reps with the first-team offense. With Hopkins and Ridley expected to get veteran rest days, you can expect this to happen regularly.

Burks has a chance to turn the corner and develop into a player that Titans fans are excited about again. He will have to earn that trust by staying healthy and doing more than just making plays in training camp. Burks is off to a good start with a new-look supporting cast around him.