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Spotlight - WR Nate Burleson, Seattle Seahawks

Posted on 7/25, exclusive to Footballguys.com

Mark Wimer's Thoughts

Nate Burleson is in an intriguing situation to open the 2008 season. Due to an ACL injury that may keep Deion Branch off the field the entire year (and which did keep Branch off the field throughout the spring), Burleson is going to begin the 2008 season as a full-time starter. Bobby Engram agitated for a new contract throughout Seattle's OTAs and did not participate in any of the spring sessions. The combination of events going on around Burleson in the WR stable have served to catapult him into a leadership role entering training camp. He has been receiving a lot of repetitions with Matt Hasselbeck, something that was lacking in his first season with the club when he posted an unimpressive 18/192/2 (2006). Last year, Burleson's numbers improved quite a bit (95 targets for 50/694/9) but he was still criticized for sloppy route running and for some of his decisions in the return game. However, the concerns over Burleson's route running may have been addressed by his new role with the team. As Burleson put it in mid-June:

"I guess there is always a sense of urgency of learning the playbook and getting that chemistry with Matt," Burleson said. "But now it has maybe increased a little bit with me being the ultimate vet. I have to go out there and almost be flawless in my execution. I can't go out there and make three mistakes in practice with these young guys all looking up to me. Especially with these young guys competing for two or three or four spots on the team....For me, I have to place an emphasis on knowing the plays, and trying to make plays. I want to be out there leading the receiving corps. Every day I want to catch a lot of balls and make a few plays so the younger guys can see me out there working and everybody else on the team can say, 'OK, we got Nate, now we can see what these young guys can do.' "

Another circumstance that may serve to sharpen Burleson's focus is the fact that coach Mike Holmgren is probably going to relieve him of his return duties this season. "I would say that we are going to have to see how that goes. He's a valuable special-teams player, and he's good for us. But if he is our starting split end, I might have to re-evaluate that," Holmgren stated in early July.

So, entering training camp, it looks like Burleson has a tight grip on starting for the Seahawks. His likely counterpart, Bobby Engram, has missed all of the spring workouts and is a 35 year old, 14-yr NFL veteran coming off a career season (94/1147/6). It looks like Burleson may be ready to post a career season of his own, as the Seahawks will most likely rely on him to power the WR stable heading into 2008.

Positives

• Burleson is positioned to be a starter for certain - behind Engram there are a lot of young guys with minimal NFL experience (Ben Obomanu, Courtney Taylor)
• Burleson has posted over 1000 yards receiving before (68/1006/9 with Minnessota back in 2004) - he could easily surpass those totals if he ascends to the #1 position in the Seahawks' WR stable
• Burleson has had 2 seasons in the Seahawks' system now, plus a central role in spring workouts this year - he should be fully up to speed in the Seahawks' version of the West Coast Offense now

Negatives

• If Deion Branch gets back on the field during the 2nd half of the season, Burleson's receiving numbers could be impacted adversely
• Burleson hasn't shown the best concentration skills since arriving in Seattle - he could begin dropping easy passes again if his focus waivers (last year he only snagged 1 out of every 2 balls that came his way)
• Bobby Engram may have enough in the tank to hold off Burleson and keep the top job while Branch is sidelined

Final Thoughts

Nate Burleson has a ton of upside this year, and is going at a very attractive cost right now (ADP of WR 39, 105th pick off the board overall). It isn't often you can snag a WR1 at the cost of a backup, yet Burleson is actually poised to be "the guy" for Matt Hasselbeck this year. He looks like a very solid value pick here and now, on the eve of training camps.

Quotations from the Message Board Thread

Ministry of Pain:
He had 9 TD on only 50 receptions last year...posted only 690+ yds too. I think there is a tendency to gravitate to this guy because of his TD total and also Branch being injured coupled with DJ Hackett being gone. I think there are real problems in Seattle and i think there will be a lot of points simply spread out. There is nothing across from him that will draw away either a top DB or double coverage. Seattle has a rookie TE in Carlson, and old vet in Bobby Engram, a WR no one has ever heard of outside the Shark Pool in Ben Obamanu, they have gone from Shaun Alexander in his prime to Julius Jones and TJ Duckett...things don't look that good in Seattle.

cacksman:
There is so much wrong with this post, where do I start?

Alexander wasnt in his prime last year, he was a shell of his former self and Jones, Morris, and Duckett are an upgrade. The offense should almost certainly be better next year even when Hasselbeck had a great year and Engram put up great #s. Hackett barely played last year, same with Branch.

The starters will be Engram and Burleson and all reports are that Hass is becoming much more comfortable with Burleson. There is no way he only gets 50 receptions this year like you say. Thats what he had last year and he will have a much bigger opportunity to succeed. He is also a top 3 returner in the league so if you get points for return yardage, he is money.

southeastjerome:
I don't expect much in terms of game to game consistency for Burleson. He's a big play threat who will go 2-20-0 one week and 5-120-2 the next. He's a nice match ups guy this season in my opinion. Being the likely starter at split end with a very good offensive coach and with a very good QB do a lot to raise his floor. For me this makes him the perfect WR3 that can be drafted as a WR4. He's a guy that I could see myself feeling very comfortable to start against weak to mediocre secondaries. PPR league folks might want to take note of the fact that Burleson has only 2 games over his NFL career in which he caught more than 6 passes. Also, being the split end in the Seahawks offense means that he likely will not see the same targets as the team's flanker, Bobby Engram.

rzrback77:
Nate Burleson has some positives coming into 08. He has a solid QB in Hasselbeck. The main targets recently in Seattle are missing. Branch is injured, Hackett is gone, and Engram is holding out and may miss some of the preseason workouts. And if you look at the playoffs last year, Burleson was a key factor. He averaged 8 targets per playoff game with 17 catches for 216 yards and 2 TDs.

Many think that Seattle will be down, but I don't believe it. I think that they will be the favorites in their division and will likely pass as much as ever even though it seems that their studs are missing. His ADP is only the low side as well, currently WR 39 and 105 overall. I think that he can provide significant value to his owners in 08.

Iwannabeacowboybaby!:
The fact is Seattle is a quality passing team, so whoever the starters are, they going to be top 35 Wr's and the better one of the two top 20 at worst. When they had Darrell Jackson, he was a little more talented than Burleson and Engram so he produced better numbers even though he had the dropsies.

Nate Burleson showed he had some talent his 2nd year in Minnesota. If the guy is in the right situation, he can produce enough to make him a solid pick. I like Burleson as a pretty decent Wr3. I wouldn't feel strong if he was my NO. 2 guy heading into the season unless you're in a 16 team league or something like that.

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