Ohio State product graduated from Scottsdale Saguaro

Darren Urban

In the upper reaches of State Farm Stadium,Denzel Burkewould watch the Cardinals when he was growing up, perhaps wearing a Larry Fitzgerald jersey or Patrick Peterson jersey, both of which he repped as a fan.

"Now," said Burke, the Cardinals' fifth-round cornerback, "I have a chance to be on the field."

The Ohio State product was probably the most surprising of GM Monti Ossenfort's draft class, given the number of cornerbacks the team had collected through the draft and otherwise the past two seasons. If a team can never have enough corners, however, it made sense.

He started four years with the Buckeyes and coach Jonathan Gannon, a defensive back guru himself, saw a scheme fit as well as other intangibles that make him "a Cardinal."

That he grew up around the Valley west Phoenix, north Scottsdale, Tempe and already lives here only was a bonus.

"He might not test off the chart, and there might be certain things, measurables so to speak, that that doesn't blow you away as much as other guys," said Burke's coach at Scottsdale Saguaro High School, Jason Mohns, who is now an assistant at Arizona State. "But just as a true football player, the kid plays the game at a really high level."

There was a time when Saguaro featured three Sabercats on the Cardinals roster: Christian Kirk, Byron Murphy and D.J. Foster. Now it's Burke's turn.

Burke moved back home after Ohio State won their national championship in January, prepping for the draft and making his initial drive to the Dignity Health Training Center "pretty convenient."

For the offseason program, Burke is rooming with fellow cornerback draftee Will Johnson, a pair that have grown close despite their natural instincts via their Ohio State and Michigan backgrounds. Johnson, a second-round pick, will be favored to earn a lot of playing time immediately. Burke is fighting for a spot in a loaded room that includes 2024 draftees Max Melton, Elijah Jones and Jaden Davis, 2023 draftees Garrett Williams and Kei'Trel Clark, as well as Starling Thomas V and Sean Murphy-Bunting.

Gannon cautioned there will be a learning curve for both Burke and Johnson. And unlike college, when a receiver beating his coverage sometimes might not mean the quarterback will find him, the NFL usually punishes such plays.

"This is the best of the best," Gannon said. "If you get beat, the ball is going to find you."

"Lining up and covering a guy, they have been doing that awhile," Gannon added. "That doesn't change much. What does change, that ball is going to be on them."

Burke's Ohio State teammate, fourth-round linebacker Cody Simon, said the Cardinals are getting a "crazy competitor" which is exactly the kind of player Gannon seeks.

"You should see him in practice," Simon said. "I know sometimes the one game gets in people's heads, but his entire career at Ohio State he's been a lockdown corner. There are going to be some battles in practice with him and Marv (Harrison Jr.)"

That "one game" was struggles against Oregon early in the 2024 season, in which he allowed eight catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Notable was the fact Burke, in the Buckeyes' follow-up meeting in the college football playoffs against the Ducks, allowed no catches.

"Not everything is going to be perfect," Burke said. "It's about how you respond and I feel I responded great. You have to have amnesia, especially playing corner, and especially playing in the NFL."

What Burke isn't going to forget about is his memories of the Cardinals, and how he will go from the furthest spaces away from the field to now touching the grass himself and managing those close to him that want to see him do it.

"We're going to have to figure it out," Burke said. "I don't think I can get that many tickets."