Right after Tim Tebow left Florida, the Gators turned to Trey Burton as their running quarterback. He was never the passer Tebow was, but Burton made a lot of noise as a runner, recording 11 touchdowns as a freshman. From there, he was moved to running back and spent time as a tight end and wide receiver.
Burton then entered the 2014 NFL Draft, but really had no defined position. This led to him going undrafted, but he found a home with the Philadelphia Eagles as a backup tight end.
For two seasons, he honed his craft before breaking out during their Super Bowl run in 2017. That year, he had 327 yards receiving and five touchdowns, but was most famous for throwing the touchdown pass to Nick Foles on the ‘Philly Special’ trick play in the Super Bowl.
Burton cashed in on his career-year by signing a four-year, $32 million contract with the Bears. As their starting tight end, Burton continued to grow as a tight end and had 569 yards through the air and six touchdowns. As good as he was as a pass-catcher, Burton was even better in the blocking game.
Chicago, a team based on running the ball, used him often as an in-line blocker and he received a strong score of 79.5 as a run blocker from Pro Football Focus (subscription required). In fact, that was considered the best part of his game, which makes him incredibly valuable in the Bears offense.
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