Luther Burden didn’t have the draft experience he was hoping for. After a terrific career at Missouri, he’d hoped his obvious talent was enough to get him into the 1st round. Unfortunately, a down season in 2024, combined with rumors of maturity issues, led to a fall into the 2nd round. Not only that, but he ended up on a team with questions. The Chicago Bears haven’t had a winning season since 2018, and they just got done purging their previous coaching staff. If that weren’t enough, they already seemed set at wide receiver with D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze.
One can understand if he walked into the building unsure of where he stood. However, it didn’t take long to get some reassurance from an unexpected source. Jameson Williams played under Ben Johnson for the past three years. He knows the Bears head coach’s offense better than anybody. He also knows Burden. The two were teammates in high school. The Detroit Lions wide receiver insisted to the rookie that he couldn’t have walked into a better situation if he’d wanted to.
Williams is the exact blueprint for how the Bears will use Luther Burden.
Remember, Johnson didn’t strictly use the former 1st round pick to catch passes. He made sure to get Williams the football in a variety of ways, from reverses to other creative hand-offs. The logic was obvious. He knew the receiver had a special ability with the ball in his hands. There is no rule against the ways you use to get it there. Luther Burden is the same way. While he is a good route-runner and can catch, his superpower appears to be making plays happen after the catch. He averaged 7.64 yards after the catch, which was the 4th-best in college football. Sadly, the coaching at Missouri didn’t take full advantage of that. Such things won’t be a problem for Johnson. Williams knows that better than anybody. All the rookie has to do is trust the coaches. Everything will take care of itself.
