Jermaine Burton, WR, Alabama (Senior)

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Strengths :

  • Very good athlete
  • Quickness
  • Separation
  • Ball skills


Weaknesses
:

  • Power
  • Route tree
  • Temper
  • Flags
  • Run block

TTProfil

 

Jermaine Burton has an average but interesting build for the position; he's not the tallest but has a good muscle mass. He is a very good athlete, with quite impressive quickness, very good acceleration, and also very good speed, allowing him to consistently attack the third level (deep) of the defense. He is a fluid athlete, but it might be more accurate to describe him as a violent athlete; he is very aggressive in his running style. Although he possesses decent power, it's evident that he struggles to physically dominate against very physical cornerbacks.

His release package on the LOS (Line of Scrimmage) is interesting but lacks refinement. However, it's very effective on the second level when attacking cornerbacks in off-man coverage. He has good footwork combined with impressive explosiveness, allowing him to create separation very quickly after his release. He has a very good stem (the stem of the route is the initial vertical segment of a receiver's route, i.e., the part of the route that precedes the receiver's break) and his breaks are violent but not always sharp. This goes back to his very aggressive but not always fluid way of running and playing. His lack of "physicality" becomes apparent when he faces press coverage and can get jammed by cornerbacks who are more robust than he is.

Burton lacks precision in his routes, even though he is capable of executing them accurately. However, his mindset and motivation are not always consistent. He doesn't have a developed route tree; he runs in or out routes well but has primarily run fade or comeback routes. I think that with his quality footwork, he can quickly develop this aspect of his game significantly in the NFL. Burton has a strong ability to stretch the game due to his athletic qualities and separation skills. I think he will be utilized a lot in this way in the NFL to attack the third level, thanks to his ability to stack cornerbacks (Stacking is an excellent way to help slower receivers gain a vertical advantage on the field. Once the receiver has managed to stack the defender, he controls the situation).
Jermaine is very effective against zone coverage; he knows when and where to settle his route to provide a viable option for his quarterback, and he also knows how to create plays off-script.

Jermaine Burton has very good ball skills; he tracks the ball well and makes excellent adjustments to throws, thanks also to very good eye/foot/hand coordination. He has very good hands, even on acrobatic catches. His technique is generally clean, but he lacks aggressiveness in traffic. He has a good transition from receiver to runner and the athletic qualities to be a threat in yards after catch. However, he lacks good vision and struggles to create with the ball in hand.

His lack of involvement is noticeable in run blocking; there is technical work to be done, and he lacks the power to sustain or redirect his blocks.

Jermaine Burton is a frustrating prospect because of his mentality. Flags will fly in the NFL for "taunting," and he will create frustration among teammates if he doesn't stop complaining whenever he's not targeted or simply doesn't like something. If Saban couldn't change his mindset, who can?
I evaluate Jermaine Burton as a 3rd-round prospect, setting aside temperament issues. The draft process will be very important for him, and he could very easily fall much lower to the 3rd day of the draft.

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