Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson told everyone weeks ago that he’s buying Luther Burden stock this year. He seemed confident the former 2nd round pick was poised for a big season in 2026 after his promising rookie campaign. No player in the NFL had more yards per route run, meaning he probably would’ve put up monster stats had he been a primary target last season. Johnson doesn’t plan on making that mistake again. D.J. Moore is gone. That means Burden is free, along with Rome Odunze, to be the primary receivers featured in this passing game.
The head coach isn’t the only one who’s noticed it. When asked which player he is most excited to watch in training camp, general manager Ryan Poles didn’t need long to think about it.
“If there’s a guy that I’m really excited about, it’s Luther Burden, just because of how much he’s grown from the day he walked in this building. I mean, I heard he was just texting and calling these quarterbacks just looking for an arm to throw to him every day of the week. The guy loves football, he’s passionate about it. He wants to helps this team win, and he wants to be the absolute best receiver he can possibly be. You can feel the fire inside of him and I’m excited to see that show up.”
Well, they didn’t have to wait long. Burden was reportedly quite active on the first day of camp. While players were in shorts as they went through the ramp-up period, the receiver had no issues making his presence felt. Caleb Williams went his way frequently. Burden looked smooth and decisive on every rep, showcasing his speed and quickness. It was hard to take your eyes off him.
Luther Burden continues upending those draft evaluations.
Going into last year, all you heard from experts was that the receiver lacked motivation. His work ethic was questionable. How much does he love football? It was why he fell out of the 1st round. The Bears certainly didn’t complain. Johnson knew that talent was not a concern with Burden. His mix of size, speed, and agility made him the kind of versatile weapon defenses struggle to game-plan against. As for the perceived motivational concerns, they were nonexistent to the coaches and scouts. They saw a young player eager to prove people wrong.
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Luther Burden had the third-most yards of any rookie receiver last season. Keep in mind that the two guys ahead of him were targeted 122 and 127 times, respectively. Burden was targeted 60 times. He got way more bang for his buck than anybody in the draft class. If he’d gotten 120 targets, he would’ve had 1,304 yards. It isn’t hard to understand why the Bears want to feature him more this coming season. Evidence indicates he would put up some of the best numbers this team has seen in a long time.
Chemistry with Williams might be the most important factor.
Don’t forget last season was the first the two worked together. Burden was trying to acclimate to the NFL while Williams was learning Johnson’s offense. It shouldn’t be shocking that things didn’t click at first. However, they got on the same page by December. The results were plenty explosive. Now those original problems are gone. Burden is in his second season, having gotten over those early jitters. Williams no longer has his head swimming from information overload. His mastery of the system has improved considerably.
You’re already seeing the progress on day one of training camp. It should only get better. At this point, it feels like only one thing can stop Burden from having a breakout year. That is health problems. Such things are impossible to predict. Every other factor is in his favor. He’s in great shape, has a good quarterback, and a head coach who wants (and knows how) to get him the football.
