Early Signing Profile: 4-star California TE Keyan Burnett signs with Arizona

The highest-ranked commit in Arizona’s 2022 recruiting class, 4-star Orange County-based tight end Keyan Burnett, has sent in his NLI and is officially a Wildcat.

Read on below for his profile.

High School: Servite High School (Anaheim, Cali.)

Hometown: Orange, Calif.

Height: 6-foot-5

Weight: 225 pounds

2021 Stats: 34 rec, 574 yards, 6 TD

Offers: Arizona, Arizona State, Cal Poly, California, Colorado, Dartmouth, Harvard, Howard, Miami (FL), Nebraska, Oregon State, San Jose State, USC, Utah, Utah State, Washington, Yale

247Sports Composite Rankings: No. 197 nationally, No. 6 tight end, No. 14 in California

Analysis: This is one of the best offensive recruits that Arizona has gotten in some time. Boobie Curry counts among that group as he is starting to develop into a very solid receiver.

Back to Burnett. He is very athletic for his size and has surprising speed to go along with that athleticism. His route-running has improved this season and he manages to get open fairly often.

As good as his athleticism is, his hand strength and concentration. He makes some incredible grabs. Part of it is that athleticism, but the other part is strength. He is able to grip and hold onto the ball in difficult situations, which allows him to win a lot of contested catches.

The other attribute I mentioned, his concentration, is also super impressive. Here are a couple of examples. He had a 29-yard TD catch against JSerra Catholic where he caught the ball in-stride, at speed, in the back of the end zone, and had the awareness to stay in-bounds. The second example was a 31-yd contested TD catch where the DB had the inside track but Burnett didn’t lose sigt, or get distracted, and reached out and brought the pass in.

Burnett is just the type of playmaker that Jedd Fisch will need to bring in on a consistent basis to improve the offense. He’s also a link to Arizona’s glory days, as his father Chester Burnett played linebacker for the Wildcats during the mid-1990s.

SENIOR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS