{"id":214435,"date":"2025-02-04T11:03:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T16:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=214435"},"modified":"2025-02-04T11:03:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T16:03:29","slug":"3-potential-cincinnati-bengals-offensive-first-round-draft-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/04\/3-potential-cincinnati-bengals-offensive-first-round-draft-targets\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Potential Cincinnati Bengals Offensive First-Round Draft Targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> enter draft season early again for the second consecutive year. The orange and black have plenty of needs on both sides and how they address free agency will dictate their direction in the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay. In January, we examined the defensive side<\/a> of the ball, now, let’s consider three potential offensive first-round targets at pick 17 in a critical season for head coach Zac Taylor and his men in stripes.<\/p>\n

3 Potential Cincinnati Bengals Offensive First-Round Draft Targets<\/h2>\n

Luther Burden III – WR | Missouri<\/h3>\n

With the Tee Higgins saga still up in the air, the Bengals may consider looking at a dynamic wide receiver to boost their offense even more. Enter Luther Burden from Missouri who had a solid career for the Tigers and his 2023 sophomore campaign was his best. In this season, he earned several awards<\/a> including, the 2023 Second-Team All-America (AP and CBS Sports\/247 Sports), 2023 First-Team All-SEC (AP and Coaches), 2023 Midseason All-America (AP), 2023 Biletnikoff Award Semifinalist, 2023 Maxwell Award Watch List.<\/p>\n

Burden is a fantastic athlete and typically wins with his quickness off the line of scrimmage. He also has fantastic hands and is elite when the ball is in his hands creating yards after the catch. He is very powerfully built from the lower half much like Ja’Marr Chase and frequently bounces off defenders. Burden would fit in nicely in Cincinnati whether Higgins stays or not.<\/p>\n

\n

Luther Burden III is thunder from the slot, a position where there is usually lightning \u26c8\ufe0f <\/p>\n

He excels after the catch, powering and eluding his way to 64 career missed tackles forced. He has solid hands even when contested.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s currently my WR2 despite a down year in 2024. pic.twitter.com\/zFvuAMiyUs<\/a><\/p>\n

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) January 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n