The most immediate impact we’ll see from the New Orleans Saints hiring former Tennessee and Auburn wide receivers coach Kodi Burns will be his influence on the young receivers who already took a step or two last year, like Deonte Harty (who is a restricted free agent the team badly needs to re-sign) and Marquez Callaway. But Burns’ arrival is timely. He’s joining the team just weeks before the football world gathers in Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine.
That’s an opportunity for teams to formally meet with prospects — often for the first time — and see them put through their paces in athletic testing drills. And Burns offers rare insight to one of the Saints’ greatest positions of need. He’s spent years recruiting and coaching against many of the top prospects in this year’s draft cycle.
One to note in particular is Tennessee receiver Velus Jones Jr.; Burns played an integral part in his breakout 2021 season, in which Jones more than doubled his career receiving yardage and won an invitation to the Senior Bowl, where he impressed NFL teams during daily practices. If his pre-draft process continues to go well, he could climb high on draft day. See what he can do for yourself:
NFL scouts have been in draft meetings past couple weeks and hearing @Vol_Football WR Velus Jones Jr. is getting pushed up many boards.
Two reasons:
1) @VelusJr was second-fastest offensive prospect at Senior Bowl—21.75 mph @ZebraTechnology
2) routes like this 👇 pic.twitter.com/JE4BtS6Pkx— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) February 20, 2022
And before he joined Tennessee in 2021, Burns held several different titles during his five-year run at Auburn. In addition to his duties in coaching the Tigers’ receivers, Burns worked as co-offensive coordinator when top 2022 quarterback prospect Malik Willis was on campus. Willis appeared in a dozen games during that span, though he was used more as a runner (rushing 28 times for 309 yards, scoring twice) than as a passer (completing 11 of 14 pass attempts for 69 yards, throwing one touchdown pass).
When the opportunity to transfer to Liberty and show what he could do in Hugh Freeze’s pass-first offense presented itself, Willis bet on himself, had two great seasons and now he’s looking like a lock for the first round of this year’s draft. NFL teams are putting a microscope over his 604 pass attempts in his second stop, of which he completed 377 to rack up 5,107 yards. He completed 47 touchdown passes against 18 interceptions.
How that split with Auburn — and the impact it had on the relationship between Willis and Burns — played out behind the scenes is anyone’s guess. Burns’ title was soon changed to passing game coordinator shortly thereafter, and his background as a college quarterback-turned-receiver gave him a unique perspective on working with talents like Willis.
But if the Saints are interested in drafting Willis, and they just might be given we know they had an interview with him at the Senior Bowl, it sure helps to have someone who knows him well on staff. Sure, the Saints aren’t going to pick Willis or Jones or any other prospect just because one of their former coaches is on staff now. At the same time, you can’t rule out the influence those connections may have on draft-day decisions. If the Saints are waffling on a prospect and Burns is willing to speak up for them, that might make a difference.
Still, at this early juncture all we can do is try to connect some dots and make some speculation. If nothing else, finding these connections and background material is interesting fodder to help get us through the months leading up to the draft. Let’s hope Burns is able to get to work with the receivers he has now, and maybe add some more in the interim.
