With Tyler Boyd now in Tennessee, the WR3 role in the Bengals’ offense is up for grabs. Whoever lands the gig will likely see plenty of targets in Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow-led aerial attack, and they will also be well-positioned for an even bigger workload in 2025 if Tee Higgins — who is poised to play out the upcoming season on the franchise tag — should depart in free agency.
As Jay Morrison of Pro Football Network writes, “there is an assumption” that rookie Jermaine Burton will serve as Burrow’s top target behind Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins on the club’s WR depth chart. There is plenty of justification for that assumption, as Burton spent four years establishing himself as a dangerous weapon in college football’s best conference. Across two seasons at Georgia and two more at Alabama, Burton caught 132 passes for 2,376 yards (an excellent 18.0 YPR rate) and 23 TDs. That type of explosiveness could make life quite difficult for opposing defensive coordinators, who will already have their hands full in accounting for Chase and Higgins.
Morrison is quick to point out, however, that second-year player Andrei Iosivas is very much in the mix. The Bengals viewed the Princeton product as something of a project when they selected him in the sixth round of last year’s draft, but he adapted to the pro game more quickly than expected and played well in relief of an injured Higgins in 2023. Morrison notes that Iosivas has earned Burrow’s trust, and he worked with a receiver coach this offseason to further refine his route running and technique. He secured 15 catches for 116 yards and four TDs in his rookie season.
Of course, even the wideouts that find themselves lower on Cincinnati’s pecking order will still have an opportunity to carve out a meaningful role. Charlie Jones was taken two rounds before Iosivas in the 2023 draft, and he made a notable special teams impact as a rookie, returning 23 punts for 248 yards, including an 81-yard return for a score. Longtime Bengal Trenton Irwin saw significant snap shares over each of the past two seasons, notching 55 catches for 547 yards and five TDs in that span.
Irwin was re-signed to a modest one-year accord this offseason.