John Mateer shares excitement about playing with Deion Burks

USA Today

19-07-2025

The wide receiver position has not seen a lot of its way in the last year and a half at the University of Oklahoma. Heading into 2024, it was arguably the deepest position on the roster. However, injuries decimated the wide receiver room, and it led to an offense that struggled week in and week out to find any consistency in the passing game.
Deion Burks made it four games before getting injured against the Tennessee Volunteers. In his first three games of the season, Burks recorded 22 receptions for 169 yards and three touchdowns. But the injury in the Tennessee loss kept him out until the second-to-last game of the season against Missouri. In the loss to the Tigers, Burks suffered a concussion that would keep him out of the LSU game to close out the season and the Sooners held him out of the Armed Forces Bowl loss to Navy.
But in limited time, Burks showed off the ability to get open, especially in the red zone. His speed will create problems for defenses. He has a chance to be a problem in offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle's system this season.
The Oklahoma Sooners need a healthy Deion Burks to have a resurgent season. He was one of the more sought-after players in the 2024 transfer portal and had a huge spring game last year. Now, it's time for that potential to come to fruition.
At SEC media days, Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer spoke about where Burks is at ahead of the 2025 season.
"I'm super proud of Deion," Mateer said. "He had a rough year last year, on and off the field. But he's super promising. He cares a lot about football and he cares a lot about the Sooners."
Though he didn't have the production he would have liked last year, Burks had the opportunity to go off to the NFL, or even leave in the transfer portal like Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony, Jalil Farroq, J.J. Hester, or Brenen Thompson did. But Burks opted to return to the Sooners for the 2025 season.
But Burks is now a leader for a completely remade wide receiver group. The Sooners will need his veteran presence as they welcomed seven new wide receivers this offseason and had four true freshmen returning from the 2024 season. Burks is the veteran presence in the group. The talent is there. The attitude and the effort are there. He just needs to stay healthy to realize the potential that could put Burks among the top wide receivers selected in the 2026 NFL draft.
"I'm super happy for him and proud of him, just where he's came with his body and his mind," Mateer continued. "He knows the game of football a lot better this year than he did last year. Super proud of him. I'm real excited to play with him."
The Sooners are hoping for two of their wide receivers, Javonnie Gibson and Jayden Gibson, to return for the start of the 2025 season. But it's Burks who has the biggest opportunity to thrive in Arbuckle's spread-out passing attack. His quickness, speed, and ability to create after the catch will be a problem against the SEC.
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