Two Luther Burden Plays Showed Teams May Already Regret Passing On Him

Luther Burden was widely projected as a future top 10 pick when the 2023 college season ended. A year later, his production dipped, and various pre-draft rumors led to him falling to 39th in the 2nd round, where the Chicago Bears picked him up. The widespread belief was that Burden had elite traits as a wide receiver, but questions about his commitment to the game. He was accused of not being a great practice guy. This was compounded by the belief that he had no interest in any responsibilities outside of catching passes.

That included blocking.

Many worried he might not fit with the philosophy of the new head coach, Ben Johnson. He famously said when he arrived in Chicago, "No block, no rock." In other words, if you don't block in his offense, don't expect to get the football thrown your way. Burden put those concerns to bed on Sunday night against Buffalo. On not one but two goal-to-go plays, the receiver delivered crushing blocks that directly led to rushing touchdowns. It was confirmation that the scouting reports may have been gravely mistaken.

Getting Luther Burden to buy in was always the concern.

If teams get even the smallest sense that a player isn't fully committed to football, they won't take him in the 1st round. They're too nervous to take the risk. Nothing is worse than a player not working out because he wasn't willing to put in the time. Johnson didn't have any such fear. Jeff Hughes of Sports Mockery reported months ago that the Bears' head coach had unwavering self-confidence in motivating players. He can get guys to buy in. All he had to do was get Luther Burden in the building. Based on the early returns, he was right to feel that way. The rookie has five catches for 78 yards across two preseason games and two highlight-reel blocks. The Bears weren't under any pressure to play him immediately. They have plenty of options on offense with D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, and Olamide Zaccheaus. Burden is making it impossible to ignore him.