Oren Burks has gone to the Super Bowl in each of the past two seasons with two different teams. Let’s make it three in a row!
Here’s what you need to know about the veteran linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Oren Burks
- Height: 6-foot-3 inches
- Weight: 233 pounds
- Age: 30
- College: Vanderbilt
- Hometown: Alexandria, VA
- Experience: 7 years
Cap Status
The Bengals signed Oren Burks to a two-year $5 million contract this offseason from the Philadelphia Eagles following their Super Bowl triumph over Kansas City.
Background
Burks was a third-round pick for the Green Bay Packers in 2018. In four seasons with the Packers, Burks made seven starts and racked up 92 tackles.
He then moved on to San Francisco, where he started eight more regular-season games and recorded 84 tackles over the next two seasons. Additionally, in his final season with the 49ers, he started in the Super Bowl, recording five tackles in their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Last season in Philadelphia, Burks started only two regular-season games, but recorded 41 tackles over the course of the season. An injury to Nakobe Dean made Burks the full-time starter for the playoffs.
During the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, Burks added 25 tackles to his season total and made some big plays, including two forced fumbles.
In the end, he got his revenge against the Chiefs and won his first Super Bowl ring.
Outlook on the 2024 season and Beyond
Early reports out of training camp have Oren Burks seeing a lot of action alongside Barrett Carter in pass-down packages. This could be an indicator of how defensive coordinator Al Golden plans to use both of them this season, but to understand what it means, you’ll have to step into my time machine and travel all the way back to the year 2020. I know what you are thinking, 2020 is the absolute last time you’d want to travel back to, but mask up and bear with me.
Despite the turmoil of the era, the city of Cincinnati rejoices at the arrival of Joe Burrow. On the defensive side of the ball, a strapping young Al Golden is coaching linebackers and is in charge of third-down defense. Veteran Josh Bynes and second-year player Germaine Pratt were the starting linebackers, but Golden put together a third-down package for rookies Logan Wilson and Akeem Davis-Gaither.
And now back to the present day. I hope you stocked up on milk and eggs while we were gone. It appears the plan for Burks and Carter may be based on that 2020 blueprint.
Expect to see Burks used in passing situations and as a core special teamer in 2025, possibly continuing into 2026.
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