Cincinnati Bengals rookie wideout Jermaine Burton has a good chance to make an impact early if he’s able to pick up the offense and flash some versatility.
As it turns out, he’s working on the versatility with a guy named T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Houshmandzadeh, the Bengals legend himself, just so happens to be Burton’s trainer. The rookie has recently chatted about how he’s been working the boundary positions but added some slot training with Housh after being drafted.
“It’s honestly amazing having T.J. train me throughout these last few years even going into college. Working with him is honestly great,” Burton said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Just to know his history and his background with the game of football and his knowledge and see the way he thinks. The way he puts it into the drills and the way he talks to you and his terminology really helps me. We also developed a relationship to the point where we talk about other things like maturity and growth.”
The Bengals could really use Burton in the slot after Tyler Boyd left via free agency. Mike Gesicki will eat some of the snaps there and sophomores like Charlie Jones could, too.
But given the universal steal praise the Bengals have received over the Burton pick, it’s pretty clear he has the talent and ability to create mismatches from that spot, too.
And with Housh overseeing the training, Bengals fans have every right to buy into the hype around the rookie.
