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Cincinnati Bengals Film Breakdown: How Jermaine Burton Fits on Offense With Joe Burrow

The Bengals took Burton with the 80th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Mike Santagata

Nov 4, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Jermaine Burton (3) gets
Nov 4, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Jermaine Burton (3) gets / Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

The Bengals took a risk with their first pick in the third round off the 2024 NFL Draft when they selected Alabama wide receiver Jermaine Burton.

Burton is a very talented wide receiver with off field concerns. If he takes advantage of his opportunity and doesn't get in trouble off the field, then the Bengals could have gotten a steal with this pick.

Let’s get into Burton’s play on the field:

Where He Excels

  • True burner speed to split two deep safety looks and take advantage of one-on-one coverage. He required a lot of attention in college, otherwise he got behind the defense.
  • He has great tracking ability to consistently find the ball in the air. When it’s thrown accurately, he puts himself in position to make a play.
  • Burton has soft hands and great concentration. He had a 2.9% career drop percentage, which was the best of any receiver drafted in the top 100.
  • He has great body control to make catches along the sideline. He can contort his upper body while controlling his lower body to catch back shoulder balls along the sideline. He typically stays on his feet for these catches as well.

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  • Burton showed some football IQ and savvy when it comes to settling in zones. He throttled down when he needed to and would make himself available to his quarterback.
  • Great change of direction and movement ability. Can decelerate very well or keep his speed when coming out of his breaks. Changes speeds and tempos his routes as well.

Areas of Concern

  • Does not give any effort when it comes to blocking. Runs to his side are killed because he doesn’t try to stay in front of his man.
  • At times he would stumble out of his breaks which could be a balance issue. This bled into his YAC ability as well as his YAC per catch and missed tackles forced percentiles were both in the bottom 20th percent.

Related: Film Breakdown of Bengals Second Round Pick Kris Jenkins

  • He occasionally drifts away from the quarterback on his routes. This lack of attention to detail may not have mattered at the collegiate level but doing that at the NFL level could lead to interceptions.

Overall Thoughts

Burton is more talented than the average third round pick.

He’s got enough speed to threaten NFL defenses vertically and force them to pay attention to him on the field. He can make good use of that speed because of his ability to track the football. He was one of the best deep threats in college football the past few years. He had one of the highest average depths of target, while also only dropping 2.9% of his career passes.

He has to put himself in position to make plays on the ball and his tracking ability allows him to do that. His body control, hand eye coordination, hands, and athletic ability all make him a great contested catch target as well. He had the best contested catch rate out of every receiver taken inside the top 100 other than Rome Odunze. Being able to be a physical presence as well as an athletic presence is huge for a receiver.

He can catch the ball outside of his frame, has very good concentration to hold on through contact and the ground, and can contort his body to make the spectacular plays happen. His body control is good as he could consistently twist his upper body to make catches while controlling his lower half to get his feet down. He actually does a nice job of staying on his feet throughout these plays as well which is another sign that his body control is very good. This is all despite coming in at 6’0 tall. The high point and contested catch monsters and usually taller. He has good instincts and processing when it comes to zone coverage and understanding the spacing of the concepts he’s running. He’s got the football IQ to sit when he is supposed to sit and he also does a great job to work the scramble drill with his quarterbacks.

His route running needs a bit of work. His change of direction and deceleration ability give him sky-high potential when it comes to becoming a great route runner, but at the moment it’s a little bit sloppy. He was able to get away with it because he was in college. He didn't consistently set up corners who had leverage on him to cross their face and win leverage back. Despite his speed, he did not always threaten the defense with it good enough. He does it on occasion but it’s something he could do more consistently. There were also instances of him drifting away from the quarterback on routes which could give a defender a good amount of time and space to get back in there to make a play on the ball. These plays ended up as catches and big gains in college but at the NFL level this should be buttoned up so he makes himself more available to the quarterback and takes away a defender’s ability to recover.

The only part of his route running that seemed like it could hinder him for his career is his balance. There were multiple occasions where he would trip and stumble when coming out of his break. This balance issue also bleeds into his yards after catch ability. Despite some highlights after the catch he ended up in the bottom 15% of prospects in missed tackles forced and YAC per reception. Some of this data could be a little shaky because of the variety of targets he got being mostly deep balls however it did show up on the film.

Lastly, it needs to be mentioned that he has some off the field issues. The reason he fell to the third round is because of those issues. The Bengals were willing to take the risk on him and if he stays clean off of the field, then he should provide surplus value for his draft slot. He’s a very talented receiver and if he was clean off of the field, he would've easily been a top 50 pick.

Scheme Fit

Burton has the change of direction ability and the smarts against zone coverage to be a starter in the slot right away. He can play outside as well and be the vertical threat that the Bengals have been looking to utilize with their other weapons. I would expect him to push to start right away as he has that inside outside versatility that the Bengals are looking for so they can maximize Ja’Marr Chase’s abilities. He also has the vertical speed that the Bengals have needed on their team the past couple of seasons. If he can clean up some of the technical issues then he can become a high end receiver and more than just a role player. There’s a good amount of potential in this player.

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Mike Santagata
MIKE SANTAGATA

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