The Chicago Bears hatched a small surprise on the second day of the NFL draft. When everybody expected them to take a running back, they opted to go for wide receiver Luther Burden. It felt odd at first until you started hearing the reactions from experts. By all accounts, the Missouri standout was a tremendous athlete with great hands and route-running savvy. Comparisons ranged from Amon-Ra St. Brown to Deebo Samuel. While there were questions about his work ethic coming out of college, one person wasn’t at all concerned about it.
Head coach Ben Johnson received a text message from Jameson Williams right after the pick. As it turned out, the Detroit Lions wide receiver was a high school teammate of Burden’s in 2018. Williams scored 24 touchdowns that year, while Burden scored 14. Both had over 1,000 yards receiving. Williams made it clear the Bears were getting a special player, similar in talent and mentality to the former 1st round pick. That is the highest praise you could hope for from a division rival.
Luther Burden couldn’t have asked for a better setup.
He has a talented quarterback throwing him the ball. Caleb Williams showed last year that he likes to feed the slot receiver in certain situations. He’ll have an elite offensive mind calling plays. Johnson showed in Detroit that a player with a skillset like Luther Burden should thrive in his system. Last but not least, the rookie will have Antwaan Randle El as his position coach. The former Super Bowl champion has a glowing reputation for developing young wide receivers. Williams was living proof of that. If Burden does the work, it is hard to imagine him not succeeding. Too much talent. Even better, he won’t be the focal point of any defense he faces. Not with D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet, and Colston Loveland commanding so much attention.
