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Courtney Cronin
LAKE FOREST, Unwell. — Luther Burden III wasn’t able to name it an evening. The previous Missouri extensive receiver needed to channel his frustration and disappointment to clear his thoughts. For weeks, the groups he had visited throughout the lead-up to the 2025 NFL draft instructed him they believed he was worthy of a first-round decide.
The primary night time of the draft on April 24 proved in any other case, and the previous five-star recruit displayed his dissatisfaction outwardly. Each hour that ticked off the clock enlarged the chip on Burden’s shoulder over being handed over the place he thought he ought to have been drafted.
Second-guessing his accomplishments as a first-team All-SEC choice in back-to-back years would have been a fruitless train. Burden was assured the place he stood among the many prime receivers within the draft — together with the 5 taken earlier than him — regardless of a drop-off in his manufacturing throughout his junior season.
As an alternative, he went to work.
At 12:52 a.m. on April 25, Burden walked off the apply discipline at Missouri’s Stephens Indoor Facility. A late-night exercise catching balls from a passing machine was precisely what he wanted to middle himself and rid any doubt, however the feeling of disrespect was one he’d retailer away for later.
“No, that is staying with me perpetually,” Burden mentioned. “All people who handed up on me gotta pay.”
Burden carried that mindset to his new NFL residence after the Chicago Bears drafted him with the thirty ninth decide within the second spherical. The choice got here as a little bit of a shock to the extensive receiver, who mentioned he hadn’t interacted a lot with the Bears throughout the predraft course of.
Earlier than drafting Burden, Chicago chosen Michigan tight finish Colston Loveland with the tenth decide, marking the primary time within the widespread draft period (since 1967) that the staff drafted two go catchers with its first two picks.
Bears coach Ben Johnson actually did not thoughts the additional offensive belongings. Burden’s means after the catch (his 1,080 yards are the fifth most in FBS since 2023) jumped off the web page and felt like an ideal match for Johnson’s offense. Integrating a receiver whom he deemed “a playmaker ready to occur” was a dream for the first-year head coach.
“A harmful participant, a weapon, name him what you need, however I see massive issues in his future,” Johnson mentioned.
Not lengthy after the Bears made it official, Johnson obtained a textual content praising Chicago’s decide. It was from Jameson Williams, the Detroit Lions wideout whom Johnson coached for 3 seasons and a former highschool teammate of Burden’s.
“You bought a canine similar to me,” Williams instructed Johnson.
Missouri extensive receivers coach Jacob Peeler noticed among the identical traits in Burden that he noticed in Philadelphia Eagles star A.J. Brown, whom Peelers coached at Ole Miss.
After Brown’s first season at Ole Miss, the place he lined up predominantly out extensive, Peeler moved him into the slot, which resulted in back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and Brown turning into the college’s all-time main receiver.
Peeler did the identical for Burden, and it paid rapid dividends with the 6-foot receiver working 75% of his routes from the slot throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons. As a sophomore, Burden had 1,212 receiving yards, another than Arizona Cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who was the primary receiver drafted (fourth total) in 2024.
However Burden’s manufacturing dipped considerably — 25 fewer catches, 536 much less receiving yards and 6 touchdowns in comparison with 9 the yr earlier than — as a junior.
The Bears studied Burden’s sophomore and junior seasons carefully. There was nothing they may put their finger on as a cause for the drop in manufacturing. Burden believed it was as a result of receiving fewer alternatives than his sophomore season. The Bears imagine it was a byproduct of Missouri’s offense (Theo Wease turned the Tigers’ main receiver with 884 yards on 60 targets).
“It was the identical offensive coordinator, the identical quarterback, however you continue to noticed the flashes of the identical ability set,” Bears director of school scouting Breck Ackley mentioned. “That is what actually issues. Sure, I get the manufacturing was down. Our jobs is to reply the query: Was it a distinction? Did one thing occur? Was he much less explosive or slower? We noticed none of that. He was the identical degree of participant that we noticed earlier than.”
Burden joins a crowded room as WR3 behind DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. Whom Johnson will flip to in massive moments is a course of that may start this week when Burden and the opposite Bears rookies take the sector with veteran gamers for the primary time throughout OTAs. There are lots of mouths to feed on offense, however the Bears imagine the heightened competitors, notably within the receiver room, will yield success in Johnson’s first season.
“[If] I can not emphasize anything, I am going to return to Ben’s deal about being snug being uncomfortable,” normal supervisor Ryan Poles mentioned. “Like there’s some guys which can be going to must grind somewhat bit more durable than in all probability they ever had earlier than. So I believe it’ll push everybody to be actually good.”
Because the mud settled from Burden’s draft night time, a well-known title popped up on the receiver’s cellphone. Williams had been making the rounds and let his former teammate from East St. Louis, Illinois, know what to anticipate from an offense that put him in place to have his greatest season as a professional in 2024.
“He instructed me I’ll adore it, so … let’s go,” Burden mentioned.
