John Sheeran discusses how the new NFL Kickoff rule could help second-year receiver Jermaine Burton carve out a role in 2025.
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00:00The NFL has voted on a significant rule change and one Bengals player in particular has a lot
00:04to gain from it and in this video I'll explain how it might just be the one thing that helps him
00:09keep his job. Hi again Bengals fans John Sheeran of A to Z Sports Cincinnati here and the big news
00:17this week concerning the Bengals at the annual league meetings down in Florida is that the
00:21tush push has been tabled. I mean it's not really big news for the Bengals Joe Burrow doesn't really
00:25use the tush push he kind of just sneaks it in the more traditional way but there is a rule
00:29change that the NFL owners did pass and I do think it's going to impact the Bengals because
00:34it's going to impact every single team every single week and hundreds of players will be
00:38impacted as well. The rule is very simple though touchbacks will now bring the ball to the 35 yard
00:43line instead of the 30 yard line which it previously was last year when they kind of
00:47redid the whole kickoff thing where you know players aren't supposed to move before the
00:50kickoffs and it's now looking more like a line of scrimmage type play it was supposed to
00:54incentivize more kickoff returns and that it did it did increase in the amount of returns
00:58or decrease the amount of touchbacks by about nine to ten percent but the NFL is still trying
01:02to get more kickoff returns out of this so by moving the ball closer to midfield it's supposed
01:07to be like hey make sure that these kickoffs are returnable so you're not just giving away
01:11five yards of field position compared to last year and I think that it'll work really well
01:15I think there are still some scenarios in which a touchback is better than giving a dangerous
01:19kickoff return of the chance to take it to the house so those scenarios would be far and few
01:23between but you will see a dramatic increase in kickoff returns because of this and because of
01:27that specifically for the Bengals I do think that this change is a phenomenal opportunity for
01:32Jermaine Burden to take advantage of now we haven't talked about Jermaine Burden in a while on this
01:35channel because right now there's not that much to say I mean everyone knows that his rookie season
01:40was dramatically underwhelming only four receptions for 107 yards and like half of that production
01:46came in one game he was a healthy scratch in two games last year for reasons that were entirely
01:51under his own control it was not a good first impression for him in the league but despite all
01:55this the Bengals still realized that they had a really talented player that they could utilize in
01:59some way and they found during the middle of the season that that way was kickoff returns he ended
02:03up leading the team in returns return yardage his average yards per return was about one and a half
02:08yards per return more than the league average now he only got this role because Charlie Jones ended
02:12up suffering when it ended up being a season ending injury but that was still an opportunity
02:16that was still a role that was vacant that he filled and he provided some value there and if
02:20there's going to be an increase in kickoff returns this upcoming season then it's only a bigger
02:24opportunity for him to retain that role and still provide value in ways that he can't because to be
02:28honest with you it's hard for me to see him grabbing hold of a substantial receiving role
02:32in this offense right now now that you have T Higgins locked in with Jamar Chase for the next
02:36four years you have Mike Gusecki back on a three-year deal Andre Yosevash is not going anywhere
02:40from the next two years that's your top four receiving options pretty much set in the Joe
02:44Burrow offense and obviously Burrow only throws the guys that he trusts like at best right now
02:49Jermaine Burden is wide receiver number five and that may be too generous considering that he didn't
02:53really do a whole lot last year and whenever i think about Burden now i think back to what
02:57director of player personnel Duke Tobin said about him down at the senior bowl this year saying quote
03:01he's done nothing and he's going to have to start doing something quickly we knew we were taking a
03:05risk we felt comfortable that we could help him through some of the challenges he's had in the
03:09past and we're going to continue to try to help him but this is professional football and you
03:13have to take accountability and you have to be accountable to your teammates your coaches and
03:18the team that you're playing for and he has to figure that out he's got to figure that out fast
03:22like he was talking about his most recent third round pick he had only been in the league for nine
03:26months and that was basically saying hey you're on the clock buddy and if that opportunity to
03:30prove himself and to figure it out is not going to happen at receiver because there's just too
03:34much depth in front of him then it might have to happen at kickoff returner a role that's only
03:39going to be more important than it was last year and it was already pretty important so if Burden
03:43really is on the chopping block and it's just a one more strike and you're out type situation
03:46then he pretty much has to win this battle to become the kickoff returner again in 2025 he'll
03:51probably have to beat out Charlie Jones and maybe another new name added to the mix here when the
03:56draft comes around but I think Burden has the ability to win this battle and to stay on the
04:00team and really prove himself in a role that again is going to be more significant and if he doesn't
04:04and he really starts to flame out then we'll have to start talking about him as one of the worst
04:07draft picks in recent Bengals history.