_(cropped).jpg) Burden with theChicago Bears in 2025 | |||||||||
| No. 10 – Chicago Bears | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Wide receiver Kickoff returner | ||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (2003-12-12)December 12, 2003 (age 21) St. Louis, Missouri | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | East St. Louis (IL) | ||||||||
| College | Missouri (2022–2024) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 2025: 2nd round, 39th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 8, 2025 | |||||||||
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Luther Burden III (born December 12, 2003) is an American professionalfootballwide receiver andkickoff returner for theChicago Bears of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theMissouri Tigers and was selected by the Bears in the second round of the2025 NFL draft.
Burden was born on December 12, 2003, inSt. Louis, Missouri,[1][2] later attendingEast St. Louis Senior High School.[3][4] He played both basketball and football and was ranked byESPN as the top offensive recruit in the class of 2022.[5][6]247Sports andRivals.com ranked him within the top five nationally.[7][8]
Burden received 41 total college scholarship offers,[8] eventually narrowing his final options to Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri. In October 2021, he committed to Missouri. He was only the fourth consensus five-star recruit signed by Missouri in the past 20 years, afterDorial Green-Beckham,Terry Beckner Jr. andBlaine Gabbert.[9]
Burden made his collegiate debut on September 1, 2022, catching three passes for 17 yards and had two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving.[10] On September 17, he had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown against Abilene Christian.[11] In the 2022 season, he had 45 receptions for 375 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns to go with two rushing touchdowns.[12]
In the 2023 season, Burden led the team with 83 receptions for 1,197 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns prior to the bowl game. He had five consecutive games during the season going over 100 receiving yards.[13][14] On December 2, 2024, Burden declared for the2025 NFL draft.[15]
| Season | Team | Games | Receiving | Rushing | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2022 | Missouri | 13 | 10 | 45 | 375 | 8.3 | 6 | 18 | 88 | 4.9 | 2 |
| 2023 | Missouri | 13 | 13 | 86 | 1,212 | 14.1 | 9 | 7 | 31 | 4.4 | 0 |
| 2024 | Missouri | 12 | 10 | 61 | 676 | 11.1 | 6 | 9 | 115 | 12.8 | 2 |
| Career | 38 | 33 | 192 | 2,263 | 11.8 | 21 | 34 | 234 | 6.9 | 4 | |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 206 lb (93 kg) | 31+1⁄4 in (0.79 m) | 8+1⁄2 in (0.22 m) | 4.41 s | 1.54 s | 2.58 s | ||||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[16][17] | ||||||||||||
Burden was selected by theChicago Bears with the 39th pick in the second round of the2025 NFL draft.[18][19]
He began his rookie season as one of the Bears' slot receivers.[20] In Week 3 against theDallas Cowboys, Burden caught his first touchdown on a 65-yardflea flicker as the Bears won 31–14;[21] he ended the game with three receptions for 101 yards and seven rushing yards.[22]
Burden's grandfather,Luther Burden, played in theABA for theVirginia Squires and in theNBA for theNew York Knicks.[23][24]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)