INDIANAPOLIS — Treylon Burks has some of the best hands of any receiver in this year’s NFL draft, and he developed them in the most unique of ways.
Burks said at the NFL combine Wednesday that he spent his days as a youth hunting feral hogs with his bare hands in rural Arkansas.
“You have to go out there with dogs and dogs go out and find them and then we come up behind them and tackle them, take them down,” Burks said.
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Not just take them down, kill them by knifing them in the heart.
Burks, who hails from Warren, Arkansas, said he grew up fishing and hunting hogs and deer. He has a tattoo of his first dog on his left arm, and he said he has tackled more hogs in his life than he count.
In some ways, Burks said hunting is similar to playing football.
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“You have to game plan before you even go out there, so it takes time to game plan, know exactly where they’re going to be,” he said. “And then you have to make sure that you, just like how I wear gloves, but you have to put a vest and everything on the dogs, just to prepare them so they won’t get hurt.”
Burks hurt plenty of opponents by stabbing them in the proverbial heart last season, when he caught a career-high 66 passes for 1,104 yards and 11 touchdowns while playing an all-purpose role in Arkansas’ revitalized offense.
He has some of the biggest hands in the draft — he wears size 4X football gloves — and the Razorbacks tried to get the football in them in Deebo Samuel-like ways.
“I basically played that in high school,” Burks said. “I played everywhere in high school. Once I got to Arkansas, I just kept on playing that same role. I just did it there. I just did what was best for the team.”
A projected first-round pick, Burks is one of several receivers in a deep draft class that appears to fit the Lions’ profile and need at the position.
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He lined up primarily out of the slot at Arkansas, but has the size at 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds to play outside. He was a willing blocker in an Arkansas offense that relied heavily on the running game. And he should impressive numbers in the 40-yard dash and other testing events at the combine.
The Lions are looking to fill the X receiver role either through the draft or free agency this offseason after struggling to maintain a downfield passing attack last season.
Burks said he considers himself the best receiver in the draft, though he politely declined to boast about that standing Wednesday.
“I really don’t think about it,” he said. “I just go out there and I do what I do for my team and I just let my film speak for me.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.