30 Most Important Bears of 2025: Luther Burden III (No. 25)
Every day from now right up through training camp, we're counting down our 30 Most Important Bears for the 2025 season. We'll recap their 2024 season, look ahead to 2025 and tackle the biggest question facing them this year.
Next up at No. 25 is wide receiver Luther Burden III, who could serve a key role as a rookie in Ben Johnson's offense.
Background
Position: Wide receiver
Age: 21
Experience: 1st season
2025 cap hit: N/A
2024 recap
Luther Burden III had a career year in his sophomore season at Missouri, where he totaled career highs in receptions (86), yards (1,212) and touchdowns (9) en route to being a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist and Second Team All-American. His production took a dip in the final year of his college career, but he had a team-best 61 receptions for 676 yards and six touchdowns, as well as nine rushes for 115 yards and two scores. He also had four punt returns for 31 yards. Still, Burden was named First Team All-SEC for the second consecutive year. Following his career year in 2023, Burden was projected to be a top-10 pick. But his dip in production was part of the reason why he fell to the Bears in the second round.
2025 outlook
The Bears landed a huge steal in Burden in the second round of the NFL draft, which gives Ben Johnson another weapon to utilize on offense. While Chicago already has its top two receivers in DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, Burden has the potential to make a significant impact as a rookie if utilized to his full potential. Johnson has talked about the importance of the slot receiver in his offense, as that's where the ball typically goes. While Johnson will move guys around, it's worth noting that Burden ran 88% of his routes from the slot over the past two seasons at Missouri. Burden is a speedy, explosive receiver who can line up inside, outside or even out of the backfield.
Big Question: How will Burden factor into Ben Johnson's offense?
The Bears have no shortage of weapons to utilize as Ben Johnson steps into his first year as head coach and offensive play caller. The only problem is there's just one ball to go around, which is a great problem to have. Between DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, along with a 1-2 punch at tight end with Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland, the question is how much Burden will factor in on offense. Given Burden's massive upside and playmaking ability -- which has garnered comparisons to Amon-Ra St. Brown -- Chicago will look to get him as involved as possible. Burden thrived in the slot during college, and that figures to be the position where he can inflict the most damage to opposing defenses.
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Some of those first-round matchups would've included a game between former Big 12 foes (Iowa State-Texas), Clemson making the trip up to Happy Valley to take on Penn State and Alabama facing Ohio State. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily. recommended Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
