Signed: Rivals250 CB Denzel Burke

Denzel Burke reeled in roughly a couple of dozen offers throughout the course of his recruitment, but it ultimately came down to a handful of schools for him back in May.

The 11th-ranked cornerback on Rivals revealed a Pac-12-heavy top five on May 12 that featured Colorado, Oregon, USC and Washington. 12 days later, however, he committed to the other program that was in his final group: Ohio State.

With this commitment back in the spring, Ryan Day’s program showed that they’re establishing a presence in Arizona. Along with Burke joining the fold, the Buckeyes signed four-star prospects Jack Miller and Lathan Ransom in the 2020 cycle. They also are the prohibitive favorite to land four-star junior Kyion Grayes.

Switching back to Burke, it’s unfortunate that he missed most of his senior season due to a shoulder injury. He’ll be in Columbus next month as he is going to enroll early, and there’s been no indication that he won’t be healthy by the time spring practice begins.

“It feels great. I feel like I made the right decision,” Burke told BuckeyeGrove following his announcement. “I know what they can do for me the next three to four years. I have the chance to work with a great coaching staff and be part of a great brotherhood. I know they’re going to develop me into a great DB and hopefully a first rounder. Now I’m going to go up there and work my tail off, just keep working every day.”

One of the most interesting things about Burke is how he is going to adjust to playing cornerback full time at the college level. If you watch the highlight reel above, you’ll see that Burke spent a lot of time contributing for the Saguaro Sabercats on offense.

Don’t get me wrong, Burke is actually a really good wide receiver. He could have definitely been a top-20 to top-25 prospect at that position if that’s what he was going to play at the next level.

So, it’s hard to get a real feel of his cornerback skill set as a lot of his tape is of him playing defense. As Burke alluded to in the article above, however, one has to imagine that the time he spent at wide receiver will assist him greatly in college.

The Rivals250 recruit will be aware of what opposing wideouts are probably going to do based on his time playing that position. It’s a completely different position he’ll have to get accustomed to playing on a consistent basis, but Burke will at least be more than familiar with how his opposition operates and will be coached up well by Kerry Coombs.

Burke also played with former five-star cornerback Kelee Ringo in high school, so he’s seen elite DB play up close and can take some of that knowledge to the next level.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.