NFL Analysis
4/26/24
3 min read
Jermaine Burton NFL Draft 2024: Combine Results, Scouting Report For Cincinnati Bengals WR
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Jermaine Burton.
Jermaine Burton'S 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 6'
- Weight: 196 lbs
- 40-Time: 4.45 seconds
- 10-Yard Split: 1.53
- Vertical: 38.5"
- Broad Jump: 11' 7"
- 3-Cone: DNP (Did Not Participate)
- Shuttle: DNP
Jermaine Burton 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS:
- Good-sized wide receiver with the acceleration speed to be a vertical dimension. High-level deep ball tracker.
- Excellent at the catch point, showing strong yet soft hands and the body control to highpoint the ball.
- Effective with double moves on the outside. Showed needed burst to re-accelerate quickly with few steps.
- Overall, he has excellent hands, catching the ball easily away from his frame. He has big, strong hands that eat up the ball.
- Challenged off-coverage corners with speed, showing the balance and body control to stop on curls and outs.
- Showed short-area quickness to win at the top of route stem. Understood how to tempo his stem to attack corners.
- Strong run after catch, with excellent play strength and contact balance. Competitive with the ball in his hands.
WEAKNESSES:
- He's more of a straight-line, linear route runner than loose-hipped with shake. Vertical burst and speed are his game.
- Did not see Burton work much vs. press man coverage. That will be a question that must be addressed.
- You would have liked to have seen Burton run a more diverse route tree, but that is not necessarily a weakness.
NFL TRANSITION:
At this point, Burton will project and transition to the next level predominantly as a vertical dimension, especially when he has free access off the LOS based on formation and motion. He showed outstanding burst off the ball and the easy accelerating speed to immediately challenge and get on top of and run by corners with high-end speed.
The other vertical element that Burton consistently showed was the ability to highpoint the ball and make contested catches with strong hands that easily caught the ball away from his frame. While Burton was not asked to run a diverse and extended route tree, he has the physical and athletic traits to develop into a factor at all three levels of the defense.
My sense is he is an ascending player who will get better in the NFL and become a weapon, especially at the intermediate and vertical levels. Burton will not be the kind of receiver that is the foundation of an NFL passing game, but his speed and vertical ability are always in demand.
He will be a productive No. 2 or No. 3 wide receiver, depending on the team, scheme and the other receiving personnel in the offense.
OTHER NOTES:
Burton came out of California as a 4-star recruit and began his college career at Georgia, where he played for his first two years before transferring to Alabama.
Burton led Alabama in receiving yards in 2022 and 2023. He predominantly lined up outside in Alabama’s offense, including snaps at boundary X on the back side of trips, but there were also snaps in the slot
