(Photo via philly.com)

The Chicago Bears made a splash in free agency this offseason. With the cupboard bare of skill position players, Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy acted quickly to bring in the top talent on the market.

Bears signee Trey Burton has the skill set to be a No. 1 tight end. With the tight end being asked to run the full route tree in today’s NFL, Burton fits the mold.

RELATED CONTENT: See how Auburn and Oklahoma tweak their zone blocking schemes, and how you could implement them in your offense

Burton excelled when running routes in the middle of the field. Though he ran a 4.62 40-yard dash time, he plays at a much higher speed in games. He may not have track speed, but he has football speed. The ability to stretch the field vertically makes him a valuable asset in today’s game. While playing for the Philadelphia Eagles against the Los Angeles Rams, Burton ran a smooth vertical route in the red zone for a touchdown.

 

On this play, Burton used strong footwork at the line of scrimmage to beat his defender. The Rams decided to bracket Alshon Jeffery (the No. 2 wide receiver in the clip). This left Burton in a 1-on-1 matchup. With an underthrown ball, Burton shows he can adjust to the ball in the air and make a contested catch.

One of the Eagles’ base concepts, the “All Curl” combination, gave Burton the opportunity to show off his elite route-running ability. The route itself is simple: Run 10 yards and stop. The nuances of getting open are not so simple, however. Watch closely how Burton changes his speed and direction to influence the defender:

 

Burton’s technique (changing direction and accelerating at five yards) forced the defender to turn his hips right as Burton was about to stop. This gave his quarterback a large window to throw the ball. The defender turned his hips because Burton accelerated and changed his stem at five yards. Receivers will usually do this when they are trying to create separation when running vertically (similar to the last clip). This is an example of great technique. Burton made the curl route look like a vertical route.

When he was flexed out away from the line, Burton was a tough matchup for any defender without safety help. The Eagles designed red zone concepts to get him in 1-on-1 matchups. The video below shows Burton’s ability to separate on a fade route from the slot position. This route requires that a receiver wins at the line of scrimmage. In this case, Burton uses his speed to beat his defender to the outside. The defender tries to get hands on, but Burton just continues on his route unfettered.  

 

Similar to the Rams clip, this play shows his ability to win 1-on-1 matchups in the red zone. This play is designed to get him the ball if there is no safety help. It is hard to find any NFL clips that show greater separation in the red zone than this one.

Tight ends usually lack the finesse and body control to run effective double moves on the outside, but Burton showed the ability to do this against Denver. With the Broncos playing man coverage with inside leverage, having Burton run the “Sluggo” route (slant and go) was the perfect call.

 

The man-to-man defender who is playing inside leverage jumps the slant, leaving Burton with nobody over the top of him. The route technique and skill to sell the slant route created separation for Burton down the field.

With the ability to run the entire route tree, on the outside or in the slot, Burton has the ability to put up monster numbers for the Monsters of the Midway. His combination of speed, strength, and knowledge of technique will allow him to be successful in Matt Nagy’s system.

Follow Bobby Peters on Twitter at @b_peters12

Want to see more content like this? Check out our Coaches Notes feature.