Burnett is a 6-5, 225, Freshman tight end from Servite HS, Ladera Ranch, CA. Last year he had 34 catches for 605 yards and 6 TDs. Burnett was a 4 star recruit and nationally ranked as the #4 tight end who could have gone anywhere. He chose to come to Arizona with 3 other highly ranked HS team mates and is key part of Arizona's recruiting class and our revamped receiving corps. HIs father Chester was a linebacker at Arizona from 95-97.
Brandon Combs AZDS analysis:
Coach PaoPao on Burnett:He is very athletic for his size and has surprising speed to go along with that athleticism. His route-running has improved this season and he manages to get open fairly often.
As good as his athleticism is, his hand strength and concentration. He makes some incredible grabs. Part of it is that athleticism, but the other part is strength. He is able to grip and hold onto the ball in difficult situations, which allows him to win a lot of contested catches.The other attribute I mentioned, his concentration, is also super impressive. Here are a couple of examples. He had a 29-yard TD catch against JSerra Catholic where he caught the ball in-stride, at speed, in the back of the end zone, and had the awareness to stay in-bounds. The second example was a 31-yd contested TD catch where the DB had the inside track but Burnett didn’t lose sigt, or get distracted, and reached out and brought the pass in.
Burnett is just the type of playmaker that Jedd Fisch will need to bring in on a consistent basis to improve the offense.
Spring practice interview:
Highlight porn:
Last year Arizona had 4 interceptions for 89 return yards while giving up 18 interceptions for 188 yards.