Expanded opportunity awaits Jermaine Burton in Alabama’s offense

Nothing is for certain when playing the game of maybes and what-ifs, but it is reasonable to conclude that what stood between Alabama and consecutive national titles was the loss of its two top receivers, Jameson Williams and John Metchie.

An Alabama offense that ranked fifth in the country in averaging 42.7 points per game entering last December’s SEC championship game began to look more mortal after Metchie’s injury. After Williams went down in the national championship game, it appeared pedestrian.

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Bryce Young’s top two remaining targets, Slade Bolden and Cameron Latu, lacked the explosiveness Metchie and Williams provided, and an inconsistent offensive line compounded the issue. The replacements at wide receiver — sophomore Traeshon Holden, and freshmen Ja’Corey Brooks and Agiye Hall — proved ineffective, irking Nick Saban weeks later.

Alabama scored only four touchdowns on its final 26 drives of the season in which the intention was not to run out the clock, watching as Georgia pulled away late to capture its first national title since 1980.

With a championship ring on order, one Bulldogs player saw an opportunity with the team that stood across the field that January night in Indianapolis. Wide receiver Jermaine Burton entered the transfer portal nine days after Georgia’s win and landed at Alabama four days later, potentially helping to solve the problem of life after Metchie and Williams that the Tide could not overcome in the waning hours of last season.

“He got a national championship, something that never can be taken away,” said former Georgia wide receiver Terrence Edwards, who trains Burton. “Now he wants to do something else for himself.”

Even after Alabama’s two star receivers joined Bolden, left tackle Evan Neal and running back Brian Robinson in entering the NFL draft, the framework of its offense remains. Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien return, and last year’s loosening of NCAA and SEC transfer rules meant Saban did not have to rebuild the rest of his offense by waiting for younger talent to develop.

Alabama moved quickly to add Burton along with likely starting running back Jahmyr Gibbs and possibly its left tackle in Tyler Steen, who has yet to announce his transfer destination from Vanderbilt but is predicted to choose the Tide. While speaking about each of Alabama’s three completed transfers this spring — also including cornerback Eli Ricks — Saban has emphasized the experience and maturity each brings.

“[They] understand the importance of doing little things right because they’ve played in games and they’ve played against good competition,” he said March 23.

Alabama has not yet made Burton available to speak about his decision, but the appeal for a wide receiver in making the move is fairly obvious. The Tide ranked 13th among FBS schools last season in averaging 38.1 pass attempts per game, while Georgia ranked 103rd with 27.1.

“[He] probably might have seen a better opportunity because we’re a little bit more wide open and throw the ball more with a good quarterback,” Saban said in February. “That may have been his intention.”

Edwards, who played at Georgia from 1999-02 and is the school’s all-time leading receiver, has trained Burton since seventh grade and still speaks to him and his mother, Sheri, multiple times per week. Even as someone who bleeds red and black, Edwards understands the decision to transfer.

“Let’s just keep it real,” he said. “[It’s] an opportunity to play in an offense that looks a lot different than what he just came from. Georgia is more balanced, more running back-centric — this year more tight end-centric with Brock Bowers.

“Alabama’s offense is a little different than Georgia’s. I don’t say that to say one is better than the other one, because Georgia just won a national championship with the way they play offense. But he sees an opportunity to get a lot more opportunities to show off his skillset.

“I understood. I wasn’t upset. I couldn’t get upset. It’s his life to live. If he like it, I love it. It’s all about the kid for me. … He made a decision. Once he told me — good luck. Hope you’re going to get the opportunities you’re looking for. If you like it, I love it.”

Burton averaged 19.1 yards on his 26 catches last season, the most on his team for anyone with more than five catches. Burton did not meet the NCAA’s minimums to be listed on its national yards-per-catch leaderboard, but only 18 qualifying pass-catchers had higher averages last season.

“When he got his opportunity, just took advantage of it,” Edwards said.

One obstacle for Burton has been availability. After a 2020 freshman season in which he caught 27 passes for 404 yards, Burton injured his knee during 2021 spring camp, then his ankle during fall camp. He also missed a game against Auburn last October because of a groin injury.

“If you go and look at his stats, there was some game-time he missed and probably didn’t play as much as he wanted to because of some of the small injuries that he’s incurred,” Edwards said of Burton’s 497 yards on his 26 catches last season. “But averaging 19 yards a catch last year speaks a lot. I think, and I felt, if he didn’t miss so much time playing, he would have gotten 1,000 yards.

“That’s the biggest thing right now — just the small, nick-knack injuries. A lot of it is bad luck and a lot of is you can’t control somebody rolling your ankle. It’s just a point of him staying healthy, just being able to show people he can play a full [season] — in Alabama’s case they’re always trying to play 15 games. So just trying to play a full football season is I think his biggest goal.”

What if Burton stays healthy? Expectations for transfer wide receivers were set high at Alabama after Williams arrived last season and averaged more than 20 yards per catch to become a Biletnikoff Award finalist. But Edwards, who played almost a decade in the CFL, volunteered the comparison to Burton.

“Alabama is getting another explosive receiver in the same breath as Jameson Williams,” he said. “They’re very similar but Jameson is — he takes the top off [the defense], the vertical threat is unmatched. I think Jermaine is a little thicker than Jameson, so he can run the whole route tree. He can take a slant-and-go and he can go across the middle. I think his game is more like Metchie, but a little faster.”

Alabama lists Burton at 6-foot-0 and 200 pounds, while Williams measured 6-foot-1 and 179 pounds at the NFL combine last month. Metchie measured 5-foot-11 and 187 pounds.

“Jermaine is a problem,” former Georgia safety Lewis Cine said at the combine. “Kudos to Alabama for winning him over, because they’re getting one heck of a player.”

Edwards saw that natural ability in Burton after their first few sessions when he was a middle schooler in the Atlanta area. Edwards told Sheri Burton that she had “something special on her hands” in her son.

“Very raw,” Edwards explained. “Like, just really not understanding the position but caught the football. Hand-eye coordination just was off the chain, and I knew once he really learned how to play the position, I didn’t have to teach him really how to fundamentally catch the football. That’s something natural that just came with his natural ability.”

Burton began at Atlanta’s Hapeville Charter School as a freshman before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida for his sophomore season. He then spent his final two high school seasons in Calabasas, California, where his position coach was former USC and NFL receiver Curtis Conway.

Burton flipped his commitment from LSU to Georgia on national early signing day in 2019.

“People think he’s from California, but he’s from Georgia,” Burton said. “He’s a Georgia kid. Just the allure of sister, mom, his grandparents, his family being able to see him play on a weekly basis. He just fell in love with Athens. … He chose Georgia because of the closeness to his family.”

Alabama, though, recruited Burton out of high school and thought the No. 82 prospect nationally in 247 Sports’ composite rankings was a “really, really good player,” Saban said. Projecting Burton’s fit from Georgia’s offense to Alabama’s was “not really hard,” Saban explained last month.

“I mean, it’s easy to see a wide receiver’s skill set,” he said. “Burton’s done a really good job. He’s been a real positive addition to the receiver corp. He’s got quickness, he’s got speed, he’s got really good hands, he runs good routes.”

The raw, young player that Edwards thought needed to learn the game earned the respect of his competition at Georgia’s practices.

“Great player. Smart player,” former Georgia cornerback Derion Kendrick said at the combine. “He knows what you’re trying to do to him as a defensive guy. He’s just perfecting his craft everyday. We were at it everyday. I really guarded him basically the whole season, throughout practices.”

Young, who knew Burton when they were high schoolers in the Los Angeles area, has also seen that since his arrival in Tuscaloosa.

“He’s someone who came in and really has a really professional mindset as far as early, right when he transferred in, he wanted to know the plays, wanted to know the system, meeting with Wiggs [wide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins], meeting with and talking with me and asking me questions about how we did stuff, how our operation worked, certain routes, the specifics,” Young said. “He’s someone who has worked hard to catch up as quickly as possible and kind of bridge that gap.”

Burton caught three passes for 36 yards in Georgia’s SEC championship game loss to Alabama, then two for 28 yards in the Bulldogs’ CFP title game win. His decision to leave Georgia for its cross-division rival might have rankled some fans to the east but not his former teammates.

“I’m not a Bama fan, but I am a Jermaine Burton fan, and Jermaine is going to be one heck of a player for them,” Cine said. “We love Jermaine. We know he’s just making the best decision for him and his family, which he did. We’re all in support of him now. When he plays UGA, if they get to play them, now it’s like, ‘Ehhhh,’ I’m still a Jermaine fan but I want Georgia to win.”

Added Kendrick: “We respected his decision. Give him good luck on what the future may look like. As far as media, people may [ask], ‘Why did he do that?’ Stuff like that. But you can’t just go against his decision. It’s one man’s decision.”

Saban noted after Alabama’s first three practices of spring that Burton had done an “outstanding job,” and also led off his comments about the receivers after last Saturday’s scrimmage by complimenting the junior pass catcher. In addition to Alabama’s three leading receivers from last season having departed, it is also missing a promising option in Brooks this spring because of injury.

But for junior defensive back Brian Branch — who has covered DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Metchie and Williams in two seasons at Alabama — it is still business as usual with Burton on the field.

“Shoot, it’s another great receiver coming to Bama,” he said this week. “So just looking forward to it.”

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.