Stock up for Caleb Williams, as the Chicago Bears landed Luther Burden III in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. This should be great for Chicago fans, but it might be devastating for fantasy owners invested in this offense. There is a positive silver lining, as the Missouri Tiger pass-catcher could be an efficient slot receiver in Ben Johnson’s offense.
However, whether that is the rookie or veteran DJ Moore, who they just extended, remains to be seen in how both are deployed. Not to mention last year’s first-rounder, Rome Odunze, first-round tight end Colston Loveland, and veteran tight end Cole Kmet.
Can the dynamic receiver be a productive fantasy asset down the stretch?
Luther Burden Fantasy Impact for the Bears
Williams, with Johnson now as the head coach, an improved offensive line, and more weapons, just won’t have an excuse this year. Now, to what extent he can facilitate all the new play makers at his disposal is a big question mark, as the pecking order was normally Moore, sometimes veteran Keenan Allen for a few games, and then Odunze/ Kmet had an occasional game where they had double digit fantasy points but that was kinda it.
With Allen out of the picture, two more rookies step into this starting mess of a receiving core with Burden and Loveland. According to Fantasy Pros, they rank both Bears rookie pass-catchers basically neck in neck for PPR, as Green Bay Packers first-round receiver Matthew Golden separates the two in dynasty rookie rankings.
For redraft, he’s ranked 72nd out of all wide receivers, a few spots above Emeka Egbuka, who’s with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was drafted in the first round. Burden profiles more as a big-play threat but not a consistent enough option for PPR, similar to fellow rookies Jack Bech (Las Vegas Raiders) and Tre Harris (Los Angeles Chargers). Elic Ayomanor, who’s on the Tennessee Titans, along with the Iowa State receivers, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel (who are both on the Houston Texans), also match a similar profile to Burden in Chicago.
Potential Trade Incoming in Chicago?
This is total speculation, but with a new head coach, it always is a question mark on the stars that were already on the team and whether they stay with the new regime. This applies to Moore and Kmet, as there were clear signs under Matt Eberflus and a rookie quarterback that some of the team seemed to openly “quit”. Specifically, Moore, as this could be more of a dynasty beneficial scenario, should be paid attention to throughout the season.
For redraft, I expect all the main pass-catchers to be involved, at least to a certain extent. Surprisingly, Chicago didn’t make a massive upgrade at running back, as they will likely run it back with D’Andre Swift with Johnson back reunited. It will be interesting how much they want to enforce the run game in a committee or if the Bears lean towards their strength in weapons and have Williams throw more like his rookie year.
I wouldn’t totally avoid Burden in redraft, however, I could totally see him being a factor after the bye week, sometime mid-season. Rookie receivers often take a bit of time to totally catch on fire, and with the uncertainty of Williams in this new offense, it would be a better risk to take if you draft more stable receivers beforehand. At best, early on, maybe the second-rounder could be a flex or receiver three in fantasy football leagues.
In Johnson’s offense in Detroit, if they use Burden like they did with Jameson Williams, while it didn’t always hit consistently, he did have a few usable fantasy spike weeks that could be worth a bench stash. The only problem is his skill set sort of matches with Moore, so they could be used interchangeably and not be set in a specific role.
I personally think Egbuka, with the Chris Godwin injury, will be an instant impact player for the Bucs in the slot and would prefer taking him over Burden with the current draft range in fantasy football leagues.
