Luther Burden III Draft Pick Thrills Bears Fans as Caleb Williams Gets Another Target

The Chicago Bears have added another explosive receiver to Caleb Williams' offense.

The Bears used the No. 39 pick of the 2025 NFL draft to select Luther Burden III out of Missouri on Friday night.

The No. 39 pick was the final piece of the draft stockpile the Bears collected for letting the Carolina Panthers move up to the top of the 2023 draft and select Bryce Young. The Athletic's Adam Jahns summed up the final impact of the trade:

Chicago started out the draft by selecting Michigan tight end Colston Loveland.

Burden and Loveland will now join 2024 No. 9 pick Rome Odunze and veteran wideout DJ Moore as potential targets for Williams.

Fans are excited to see Burden and the rest of the Bears' stacked wide receiver room get to work under new head coach Ben Johnson next season.

Burden recorded 1,212 passing yards during his 2023 season at Missouri. Although his production dropped during his final 2024 campaign, he was ranked as the No. 35 overall prospect and No. 5 wide receiver available in the draft on the final B/R 2025 NFL Draft Big Board.

B/R NFL scout Dame Parson described Burden as "an explosive and dynamic run-after-catch threat."

"He will benefit from being linked to a creative offensive coordinator who will utilize his full skill set to help the offense," Parson wrote. "The best way to implement Burden into the offensive system is to get him involved in the passing game from multiple alignments with pre-snap motion."

The Bears will now hope Johnson, who succeeded in shaping the Detroit Lions into one of the best offenses in the NFL last season, is able to unlock Burden's potential ahead of Williams' second season with the Bears.