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Derek Burton was always fairly large for a defensive end.
So when the time came to make a sacrifice for the good of the team, he had no problem moving inside to defensive tackle.
“It was coming naturally,” Burton said. “I was gaining weight during last season and I wasn’t eating more or doing anything different. I was just getting bigger and it’s just kind of how my body worked and it’s working out for me.”
Burton picked up two starts at defensive end his sophomore season and started all 13 games there his junior year.
But when OSU found its defensive interior lacking depth, it turned to one of its veterans to make a last-minute move.
Defensive coordinator Bill Young said Burton is the type of versatile player who is not restricted to a single position.
“He was a big defensive end and now he’s a small defensive tackle,” he said. “But he has packed on a little bit of weight, and he’s very strong and he’s got that quickness of a defensive end, so he’s really what you are looking for.”
Young said Burton has had an outstanding year so far despite his relative lack of experience in the middle.
“He really has played extremely hard and he’s a very smart football player,” he said. “He’s always in the right spot at the right time, and he’s made some big plays.”
Burton weighed 250 pounds — a solid size for a defensive end — when he arrived at Oklahoma State.
But OSU defensive end Ugo Chinasa said it was common to see Burton get bigger and stronger during the offseason, only to cut the weight again.
“He got to 280 last year before the season started and then he got back down to 260,” he said. “But it’s natural for him.”
Chinasa said he has found himself in situations where he had to pass rush up the middle and it gives him a glimpse of what Burton has to deal with every day.
“You’ve gotta gain weight and get stronger,” Chinasa said. “I will go down there sometimes in pass rushing on third and long or something, and it’s tough down there. I know how he feels.”
Burton is part of a large senior class that will play its final home game this Thursday against Colorado.
The senior leadership of players like him, as well as the turnaround under Young, has the Cowboy defense sitting at 32nd nationally in total defense. In the past three years, the Cowboys finished at 93rd, 101st and 89th.
Burton said he thinks OSU has finally broken out of the rut and has shown it can field a nationally recognized defense.
“I feel like we still have a long ways to go,” he said. “But these last four years we have gotten over that hump and kind of that mental deal where people tell you are something for so long and you just start to be that.”
Burton might have had to suffer through a couple of rough defensive years, but he can leave OSU for good knowing that he helped leave a legacy and was part of a big change.
He said looking back on his career, it’s hard to believe he is about to play in his final game at Boone Pickens Stadium.
“You kind of get in such a routine that the days fly by,” Burton said. “But every day is its own and I have really enjoyed it here.”
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