Share on your favorite social network:

Xavier Burke

Height: 6-3
Weight: 245
3-star recruit by 247Sports, #21 TE overall, #20 recruit in VA

Xavier Burke committed very early to the Hokies and didn’t bother to travel the region and attend a bunch of camps, unlike other prospects.  That probably cost him a number of scholarship offers, but he always considered Virginia Tech to be the place for him.

Burke is projected as a tight end by most, though Brunswick High School apparently isn’t much of a passing team.  He caught just five passes as a junior, and his HokieSports.com highlight tape only shows him catching three passes.  He put up 18 tackles for loss and 10 sacks from his defensive end position.

What does Burke show on his admittedly few highlight plays as a tight end?  And what else do we know about him?

Solid speed: Burke displayed good straight ahead speed on his one long catch and run.

Hands (?): On the same play, Burke made the catch with one hand.  Scouts, INC lists his hands as a strength, but I don’t know whether I can do that or not based on one play on a highlight film.

Solid build: Burke is standing next to Billy Ray Mitchell and Tyrell Smith in the picture above.  Those guys are offensive linemen, so as you can see, Burke possesses the ideal size for a tight end recruit.  Mike Gentry will make him even bigger.

Length: Burke looks to have long arms, which are very useful for a tight end in both run blocking, receiving, and on those occasions where he’s asked to pass block.

Because of the lack