Trey Burton: A Comprehensive Analysis of Chicago's New Tight End

I love Madden. Despite every game varying only slightly from the year before, I’ve purchased a copy every season for as long as I can remember. It’s a big part of the reason I am such a huge football fan.
It’s a fun game and a good way to kill time when actual football isn’t on. But the game is nothing like the real thing, especially when it comes to building a roster.
For example, you need three tight ends to fill out a roster in Madden and the best way to fill those spots is to get the three highest overall players regardless of style of play. But in real life, this simply is not a good strategy.
The reality is, while there is only one tight end position in Madden, there are actually two different tight end positions in real football: Y and U tight ends.
Which brings us to the Bears signing of free agent tight end Trey Burton.
While some saw the signing of Burton to signalize the Bears may have lost faith in second-year tight end Adam Shaheen, that could not be further from the truth.
While Shaheen and Burton are both listed as tight ends, they will play different positions; each with different roles and responsibilities.
In Kansas City, Matt Nagy had a guy in Travis Kelce who could successfully fill both roles. But Kelce is a freak of nature. What the Bears realized is that no one guy can replace a player of his caliber, even if they are physically similar. So instead of forcing Shaheen into a role that might not put him in the best position to succeed, they signed Burton to fill a complementary role.
Shaheen will serve as the Y, or ‘in-line,’ tight end and Burton will fill the role of the U, or ‘move,’ tight end in the Bears’ offense.

Burton’s Background

 
Burton spent his college career at the University of Florida. A quarterback in high school, it was his versatility that stood out for the Gators. He lined up at quarterback, running back, fullback, tight end and wide receiver during his four years in Gainesville.
His lack of a true position and newness to skill positions led him to sign as an undrafted free agent with Philadelphia in 2014. His first two years were essentially redshirt seasons before stepping into a larger role in year three. Over his last two seasons he accumulated 63 receptions for 629 yards and six touchdowns.
While not eye-popping numbers, he should see an uptick in production with an increased role. But while his numbers weren’t impressive, he did receive a 75.6 grade from PFF, good for 13th among all tight ends. The Bears are banking on his upside which is why they felt comfortable giving him a four-year, $32 million contract.

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What’s the difference between Y and U tight ends?

 
Before we get into how Burton will fit in, let’s dive deeper into the differences between the Y and F tight end positions.
We’ll start with the Y. When you think about the tight end position, you are probably thinking of an old school Y. This is typically your starting tight end. The Y tight end lines up next to the offensive tackle, usually on the line of scrimmage.
He is typically bigger than an U and thus a better blocker. They will be a factor in the pass game on short to intermediate routes but will need to be a more well-rounded player. Think of a Jason Witten type tight end.
The U, or move tight end, will line up at a variety of different positions from tight end in 12 personnel sets, fullback, slot receiver and even outside receiver at times (hence the term “move”).
While an U will have to be able to hold his own blocking, it will not be his primary responsibility. Instead, he can be moved around the offense to create mismatches in the passing game. Jordan Reed and Evan Engram are good examples of U tight ends.
Both contribute to their teams mostly as receivers from a variety of different alignments. Burton should be able to provide similar flexibility to the Bears revamped offense.

How Burton fits in Chicago

 
As mentioned above, Burton was used in a multitude of different ways in the Eagles’ offense. His snap counts were low due to the presence of Zach Ertz, but he usually made them count. In the play below, the Eagles send Burton in motion and he ends up as the slot receiver. When the safety moves with him, this tells the offense that the Falcons are playing man coverage.
 
Burton on a safety is exactly the mismatch for which they were looking. You can see the safety try to jam him at five yards beyond the line of scrimmage, but Burton is too big and he easily gets behind him. He runs a good corner route but Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles overthrows him for an incompletion.
In addition to lining up in the slot, he also lined up as an outside wide receiver often. In the red zone play below, he is not only lined up on the outside, but is working against a corner and a safety. He runs a good out route and uses his body to box out the smaller safety for the reception and a touchdown. Burton knows how to use his 6-foot-three, 230-pound frame to his advantage against defensive backs, especially in the red zone.
 
The previous two plays are examples of Burton using his size to beat smaller, faster defenders. But if teams adjust and put a linebacker on him, he can still win with speed and route running.
Here he is lined up as the outside receiver at the bottom of the screen. The Broncos must have seen the previous two plays and choose to put a linebacker on him instead of a corner or safety. But Burton runs a great sluggo route (slant and go), which is no match for most linebackers. He also displays better than average body control for a tight end to adjust to the back shoulder throw.
 
As an U tight end, Burton was also asked to line up as a fullback from time to time. And while he is adequate as a lead blocker in this role, this is, again, designed to create mismatches in the passing game. In the next play the Eagles sell run, Burton fakes like he is going to block the defensive end but instead escapes into the flat for an easy reception.
 
This may seem like an easy play because, well, it is. But it shows off the versatility needed out of an F tight end.
The above are all examples of Burton in roles outside of the traditional tight end alignment. This is how he was used most often in Philadelphia.
According to Pro Football Focus, he lined up at wide receiver for 156 snaps last season and tight end for only 127 snaps. Of those 156 snaps at wide receiver, 102 were from the slot. I don’t imagine this changing much in Chicago considering this is where he is most effective. His 1.25 yards per route run from the slot was good for 14th among all NFL tight ends. With more playing time and natural progression, he could improve on that ranking this season.

I’m a pass-catching tight end. I’m versatile and can do a bunch of different things. I don’t necessarily think you can say I do one thing. – Trey Burton

Where he needs to improve

 
Burton excelled in the passing game albeit in a limited fashion, but for what the Bears are paying him he will have to see the field more in a larger role. And if he wants to see the field more, he needs to become a better blocker.
As I mentioned above, the Y tight end usually is responsible for most of the blocking responsibilities. But the U tight end also needs to hold his own in this regard. If the Bears only bring Burton in for passing plays, that is a huge tell that defenses will key on. If he can become even an average blocker, he could become Mitch Trubisky’s best friend.
The Eagles did a good job of masking Burton’s inefficiencies as a run blocker and Nagy will have to do the same. One way they did this was to use him as a backside blocker while running behind Ertz or Brent Celek. You can see in the play below Burton come in from the right side of the screen to block the defensive end on the opposite side of the play. Basically, all he needs to do is get in the way.
 
Burton did show some flashes of improvement and should continue to do so simply by getting more reps.
As mentioned above the Eagles had both Ertz and Celek who are good blocking tight ends so he wasn’t often put in a position to fail. With Shaheen improving as a blocker as the season went on, the Bears can do the same.
But If Dion Sims is traded or released, look for Ryan pace to sign a blocking tight end to take some pressure off of Burton.

Wrapping Up

 
When Nagy was first hired, I wrote about how Adam Shaheen would fit into his offense. While that still stands true, the same could be said of Burton.
One of the biggest complaints I had last season about Dowell Loggains’ offense was how predictable it was.
Okay … everybody had that complaint, but Burton is anything but predictable. His ability to be used in a variety of different ways will keep defenses guessing on Sundays.
No matter where he lines up, or what role he is filling on a specific play, he provides Nagy with a versatile chess piece to move around the offense.
His production doesn’t match the contract he was given. And that’s all right. Burton is exactly the type of high upside, ascending player teams should target in free agency. They aren’t paying for past performance, they are paying for future reward. And if he reaches his potential, the contract will become a bargain.
At the very least, the Bears should be a fun offense to play with in Madden this season. 😉