Bengals wide receiver Jermaine Burton scores first NFL touchdown vs. Buccaneers

One rookie who has impressed early in camp for the Cincinnati Bengals in training camp is former Alabama wideout Jermaine Burton. And on Saturday night, he had a nice catch down the left sideline. He hauled in a 37-yard touchdown catch, the first of his NFL career.

That noise you hear is @PFF_Steve doing a happy dance over Jermaine Burton scoring pic.twitter.com/BN9gQQClmi

— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) August 11, 2024

He blew by defensive back Andrew Haynes for the 37-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Logan Woodside.

Burton spent the last two years at Alabama after beginning his career at Georgia. He was productive and consistent across his four years in college, recording at least 25 catches for 400 yards in every single season.

He is coming off his most productive year yet, a 39-catch, 798-yard outing that saw Burton reach the end zone eight times.

In total in his career, Burton has logged 132 catches for 2,376 yards and 23 touchdowns. He has also added four carries for 50 yards out of the backfield, which included one 43-yard scamper.

That Burton was able to have so much success while playing in the SEC says a lot about how he projects to the next level. He’s a physical wideout who isn’t afraid to mix it up near the line of scrimmage when he needs to.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Jermaine Burton

NFL Draft analyst have somewhat mixed views on Burton, who checks in at 6 foot, 196 pounds.

The question marks for Burton seem to be how well his physical attributes will power him through early on as he develops more as a route-runner and irons out various routes that he wasn’t necessarily asked to run in college.

But there’s a lot to like, too.

NFL Network analyst Lance Zierlein had the following to say in evaluating Jermaine Burton:

“While the catch totals and yardage weren’t necessarily prolific, Burton’s tape is very appealing. He has pretty good size and plays bigger than he measures. He can fight through press, get physical at the break point and carve out space on 50/50 balls. Burton wasn’t asked to run an extended route tree, but he has the traits and ball skills to work all three levels against NFL cornerbacks.

“He caught a touchdown pass every 5.7 grabs during his college career, but he would have scored even more if not for some mistimed throws when he had opened the window wide. Burton’s athletic profile and ball skills create confidence that he can become a solid WR2/3 in the league.”

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.