And he wasn’t the only rookie in the top five.
The Jermaine Burton truthers will like this one.
The rookie receiver earned the highest overall grade (76.3) on the entire Cincinnati Bengals offense from Pro Football Focus. This despite only getting 10 snaps.
That was almost thirty points more than Trenton Irwin (47.4) who had 35 snaps, and also well ahead of Ja’Marr Chase (59 snaps, 57.5 PFF grade) and Andrei Iosivas (49 snaps, 55.3 PFF grade), despite his two touchdowns.
Yes, it’s a super small sample size, but it does seem that Burton deserves more chances.
And he’s not the only rookie who impressed. Tight end Erick All Jr. had the fifth highest overall offensive grade on the Bengals (66.9) thanks to his contributions both as a receiver and a blocker.
Another newcomer, tight end Mike Gesicki, finished third in overall offensive grades (72.3), largely thanks to acting as a reliable target for quarterback Joe Burrow.
On defense, no one should be surprised by the high grades of:
- Akeem Davis-Gaither (90.4), who had an early interception of Patrick Mahomes
- Trey Hendrickson (89.8), who simply could not be contained
- Cam Taylor-Britt (89.6), who had a beautiful one-handed interception or
- Germaine Pratt (83.9), who had a perfectly timed forced fumble
But the best player on defense, according to PFF, was actually DJ Turner II (90.9). The second year corner with speed to spare had a nearly flawless game, which is a great sign for this team.
Check out all the top grades here:
Week 2 Bengals PFF Grades pic.twitter.com/vLJC5nQU5q
— Parker Blake (@ParkerBlake60) September 16, 2024
