Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice: Jermaine Burton (2024 Fantasy Football)

This is what we’ve been waiting for, fantasy football enthusiasts. The NFL Draft is under way, and we finally get to see where the rookie prospects are going to launch their professional careers. And NFL Draft landing spots allow us to start to zero in on fantasy football and dynasty rookie draft pick values. We look at wide receiver Jermaine Burton and how he’ll fit with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Throughout the draft, we’ll take a closer look at fantasy-relevant prospects, giving you an overview of their strengths and weaknesses, and assessing their fantasy value in both redraft and dynasty formats.

Let’s dig in.

Fantasy Football Rookie Draft Outlook

Fitz’s Fantasy Football Outlook

The Cincinnati Bengals have selected Alabama’s Jermaine Burton with the 16th pick of the third round.

Burton led Alabama in receiving yards in each of the last two seasons, with 40 catches for 677 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022, and 39 catches for 798 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023. Over his four-year college career that also included a two-year stint at Georgia, Burton averaged 18.0 yards per catch and scored touchdowns on 17.4% of his receptions.

The 6-0, 196-pound Jermaine Burton ran a 4.45 at the combine and posted a Relative Athletic Score of 9.54. He’s a dangerous downfield threat who had an average depth of target of 20.2 yards last season. His speed and athleticism show up on the field, helping him create separation. Burton also has ultra-reliable hands, with zero drops in 2023 and only four drops in four collegiate seasons.

There are character concerns with Burton, who reportedly wasn’t on the draft boards of several NFL teams. He’s not always consistent with his route-running or his effort. Burton also has a lean build that could hurt him in contested-catch situations at the next level.

Let’s face it: Cincinnati is not an optimal landing spot for a rookie receiver. The Bengals have one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, Ja’Marr Chase. They also have one of the best No. 2 receivers in the league, Tee Higgins. Cincinnati also has an intriguing pair of young receivers in Andrei Iosivas and Charlie Jones. It could be hard for Burton to get on the field as a rookie. But if the Bengals were to trade Tee Higgins, as has been speculated for some time, Burton’s fantasy outlook would brighten.

In dynasty, I have Burton ranked WR14 among rookies and WR60 overall. He’s likely to come off the board in the mid-to-late second round of 1QB rookie drafts, or in the early-to-mid third round of superflex drafts.

Burton’s predraft FantasyPros Expert Consensus ranking was WR113 in half-point PPR formats, and he had a predraft Underdog best-ball ADP of WR91. I consider Burton to be a longer-term play only and have him ranked WR100 for redraft.

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Thor’s NFL Draft Profile & Player Comp

Jermaine Burton | Alabama
6002/196 | RAS: 9.54
Comp: Bernard Berrian

Burton moves well on the field, a glider with good athleticism. He knows how to attack leverage in man and find the soft spots against zone. Last year, his downfield machinations were on full display, with a ludicrous 20.2 aDOT that led this class. That usage-specific role was out of necessity, not a lack of aptitude – Alabama QB Jalen Milroe is a gifted deep-ball thrower who struggles with accuracy and timing concepts. Burton’s downtown prowess should translate. And I think he has more utility in the short and intermediate sectors than we have recently gotten a chance to fully see. Consistency has been an issue, however, in part due to missed assignments and flubbed routes.

And I hesitate to even include this, but it’s a contextual fair warning: I’ve heard multiple NFL teams do not have Burton on their draft boards over character concerns. I reached out to an NFL agent who pursued Burton last year about that, and got the following response: “Not surprised.” Burton faced intense public criticism after Alabama’s 2022 last-second loss to Tennessee after cameras appeared to catch him taking swipes at two different crowd-storming Vols fans – one of them a female – as he walked off the field. Dane Brugler spoke to this on a recent episode of “The Athletic Football Show”: “The talent’s there. It’s a matter of consistency on and off the field. He’s been to six schools in eight years. As one NFL scout put it, he was on the s*** list of the coaches of both Georgia and Alabama”

On talent alone, Burton should be several slots higher in these rankings. But if Burton slides on Draft Weekend, you will know why.

Check out more NFL Draft profiles and player comps from Thor in our 2024 NFL Draft Guide