As the dust settled on the 2026 NFL Draft, Jordan Schultz reported the Bills invited an intriguing wide receiver to their rookie minicamp, former third-round Bengals draft pick Jermaine Burton.
While I can’t claim to be the conductor of The WR Train — that would be WGR550’s Jeremy White, of course — my ears always perk up when I catch wind of the Bills acquiring a wideout at any stage of the calendar year.
And as a draft nerd, this news really got the juices flowing… I vividly recall scouting Burton
two years ago. He was distinctly on the minds of many as a potential Day 2 selection for the Bills in a draft that ultimately netted the Bills Keon Coleman at the top of the second round.
Now that Burton will be attending Buffalo’s rookie minicamp in the not-too-distant future, let’s dive into what he brings to the field as the quintessential low-risk, high-reward option for the Bills in early May.
Let’s quickly start with Burton’s natural talent. As a high-school recruit in the class of 2020, he was the No. 15 wideout in 247 Sports’ Composite Ranking, one spot below current Chargers receiver Quentin Johnson and two spots ahead of Colts wideout Josh Downs.
Across four collegiate seasons — the first two at Georgia, the last two at Alabama — Burton caught a total of 132 passes for 2,376 yards (18 yards per grab) with 23 touchdowns.
In the 2024 draft, Burton was my WR16, slightly behind the Malachi Corley and Ricky Pearsall, with a third-round grade.
He was ultimately the 13th receiver picked, selected in the third round at No. 78 overall.
Here are my observational notes on Burton before the draft:
“Easy speed. Sudden and glides on the field. Shows natural ability to flip on the jets, and at top speed he absolutely flies. Awesome hands. The suddenness that comes with his athleticism helps him generate separation, and he ran a fair amount of routes (mostly vertical) in college but doesn’t translate after the catch. Minimal flashes in those scenarios. Tracks it over his head awesomely, and his true speciality is his ability to stretch defenses vertically. Decent height and slender-ish frame lends itself to his effortless speed. Despite smaller-ish frame, he’s a tenacious blocker on the outside. Somewhat of a niche WR but his speed and flashes of dynamic route running make him an intriguing WR prospect who can be instant impact down the field. Older-ish prospect.
And here’s all his pertinent NFL Combine information:
During those four seasons in the SEC, Burton aligned on the boundary on 74% of his snaps, dropped just four passes on 197 targets and won on 52.6% of his contested-catch opportunities, per PFF.
During his rookie season with the Bengals, Burton appeared on just 11.5% of the offensive snaps and caught four passes for 107 yards without a touchdown. He had two 40-plus yard receptions against the Chiefs and Eagles that year.
As far as why Burton’s available before the start of his third professional season, he was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute, per ESPN, but no charges were filed and no punishment was handed down by the NFL.
Beyond that serious matter, there’s no use speculating as to the exact details that led to his release in Cincinnati, and while of course the Bills will probably be closely monitoring Burton, what transpired during his first stop in the NFL is essentially irrelevant now because Buffalo’s brass first needs to see if Burton can make an impact at rookie minicamp before it assess how much “risk” he poses if they decide to make room for him on the roster entering mandatory minicamp/training camp.
There’s no question Burton is a clearly talented, vertical-based wideout. He’ll take part in Bills rookie minicamp with the potential to be this year’s version of the Chase Claypool Experiment, a trail run that was going well in 2024 before the wideout was injured at St. John Fisher.
