The Cincinnati Bengals are at a crossroads of their season with nine games left after getting drubbed by the Philadelphia Eagles 37-20. The offense started perfectly with a 17-play, 70-yard opening drive that spanned over 10 minutes. It was mostly downhill after this as the orange and black couldn’t play complementary football and were wildly inconsistent. The porous run defense reared its ugly head once again as Saquon Barkley ran roughshod against Cincinnati, finishing with 108 yards rushing on 22 carries for almost five yards per. The secondary wasn’t much better and the big play monster bit them as Jalen Hurts could do no wrong highlighted by the longest air throw of his career on a touchdown to DeVonta Smith. The one bright spot that the Bengals have to build on was the play of rookie wide receiver, Jermaine Burton. Let’s examine it closer.

Growing Pains

It’s well understood that Burton has huge growing pains to work through, like lining up correctly, getting off the field on substitutions, and even knowing the play being called. The main issue is that the Bengals need all hands on deck from a pure talent perspective to help the offense, with Tee Higgins regularly dealing with a myriad of soft tissue injuries. Burton’s ability to separate and track the ball in the air were his two most impressive traits coming out of Alabama. This has carried over to the next level when the ball is thrown his way.

Burrow to Jermaine Burton deep. Burton frames separation with Darius Slay #Bengals pic.twitter.com/dWAecflOVI

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 27, 2024

Cincinnati needs more of this, and like, a lot more. They are in desperate need of a WR3 to pair with Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins when he’s available.

Three-Headed Monster

With sophomore Andrei Iosivas struggling, this is the time for Burton to step up and for the coaching staff to see what Burton can truly do. He brings juice and the threat of throwing the ball over your head every time he’s on the field. The rookie should also get favorable matchups with Chase flanking him on the other side. Throw in Higgins and you have a potential three-headed monster that could open up the running game that has been stagnant at times.

Pro-Move

The bottom line for Burton is, that he has to act like a pro. This goes beyond just having talent, he seemingly has that in spades. He needs to mature and take accountability for all the little things that it takes to be successful in the NFL. Burrow is willing to help and take him under his wing if he puts the time and work in as he noted that he’ll keep the dialog open to move him forward in this offense.

The Bengals are running out of time and options to turn their season around. It seems likely they will turn to Burton more often in hopes of getting hot on offense so their beleaguered defense can play with leads more often. Burrow and head coach Zac Taylor have seemingly been patient with Burton thus far, they will have to remain so and live with some mental errors. The hope is Burton is wise enough to learn and not make the same mistake twice. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me, well, you know the rest.