{"id":230235,"date":"2025-04-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=230235"},"modified":"2025-04-26T01:31:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T05:31:44","slug":"bears-luther-burden-sends-warning-to-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/04\/26\/bears-luther-burden-sends-warning-to-nfl\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears Draft Steal Sends a Warning to the Rest of the NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Bears entered <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/04\/25\/top-day-2-draft-targets-for-the-chicago-bears\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Day Two of the 2025 NFL Draft<\/a> with no shortage of options. However, few could have predicted the splash they would make with their first of three second-round picks. Highly touted wide receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/21\/luther-burden-iii-2025-nfl-draft-profile-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Luther Burden III,<\/a> who many expected to hear his name called on Day One, took to Instagram to share a late-night training session after going undrafted in the first round. Hours later, the Bears snatched him up with the 39th overall pick, sending a message to the rest of the league.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Luther Burden\u2019s response to being left out of the first round of the NFL draft? <\/p>\n<p>A midnight workout at <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Mizzou?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Mizzou<\/a>\u2019s practice facility <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GD0X2AEIUK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/GD0X2AEIUK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Joey Van Zummeren (@JoeyVZ_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeyVZ_\/status\/1915650846467002664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Bears Luther Burden III Issues a Warning to the 31 Other Teams<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"823\" data-end=\"921\">Luther Burden III wasted no time making it clear that the 31 teams who passed on him made a costly mistake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"924\" data-end=\"1172\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagobears.com\/news\/chicago-bears-2025-nfl-draft-luther-burden-iii-missouri-receiver-versatility-competitive-nature\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em data-start=\"924\" data-end=\"1005\">&#8220;I was pretty much fixing to get some work in while everybody was celebrating,&#8221;<\/em><\/a> Burden said Friday night. <em data-start=\"1032\" data-end=\"1172\">&#8220;And I&#8217;m going to do the same thing tonight&#8230; the field&#8217;s an escape for me, always has been. I needed to hit the field to clear my head.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Burden wants to be great, and showed the world he will put the work in to become great. After being drafted by the Bears, he expressed his excitement to be a part of the organization, and teammates are loving it, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stories\/ayeeecaleb\/3618899884564912613\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caleb Williams<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stories\/romeodunze\/3618887184967990766\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rome Odunze<\/a> expressing their mutual feelings on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>General manager Ryan Poles said,<em> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BradBiggs\/status\/1915977250014429683\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;It was clear he was the most talented player on the board,&#8221;<\/a> <\/em>and mentioned his run-after-catch is elite and the best in the draft class.<\/p>\n<p>The chemistry between Burden and Williams could be electric. <em data-start=\"1700\" data-end=\"1731\">&#8220;I know a lot about [Caleb],&#8221;<\/em> Burden said. <em data-start=\"1745\" data-end=\"1888\">&#8220;Me and him were supposed to be teammates before. The world works in mysterious ways. I&#8217;m excited to finally unite with him and get to work.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Outlook in Chicago<\/h3>\n<p>Over three seasons at Missouri, Luther Burden III started 34 games, totaling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagobears.com\/news\/chicago-bears-2025-nfl-draft-luther-burden-iii-missouri-receiver-second-round\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">192 receptions for 2,263 yards and 21 touchdowns.<\/a> He also only had three drops last season and finished <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NicholasMoreano\/status\/1915914673951576269\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first among WRs with 50+ targets and 30 missed tackles forced.<\/a> In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SharpFootball\/status\/1902463865717453118\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">49% of catches of Burden&#8217;s catches resulted in a missed tackle,<\/a> which was first in the draft class.<\/p>\n<p>His versatility, both as a rusher with 34 carries for 234 yards and four touchdowns and as a returner with a 78-yard punt return touchdown as a true freshman in 2022, makes him the perfect gadget weapon for head coach Ben Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>In Chicago, Burden joins a loaded offensive arsenal featuring Cole Kmet, 2025 first-rounder Colston Loveland, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and D&#8217;Andre Swift. With so many weapons around him, Burden will often find himself matched up against a defense&#8217;s second or third-best cornerback, a mismatch the Bears are eager to exploit. To add on, practicing against cornerbacks like Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Kyler Gordon will only accelerate his development.<\/p>\n<p>Burden is a great all-around athlete with top-tier route-running abilities that will thrive in the slot. Put the ball in his hands and let him do the rest.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Bears with a STEAL in Luther Burden III<\/p>\n<p>Caleb Williams gets another weapon in Chicago <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oReZsVvZ0O\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/oReZsVvZ0O<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; B\/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brgridiron\/status\/1915913566965706930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Last Word on Bears WR Luther Burden III<\/h3>\n<p>Despite not needing a wide receiver, Ryan Poles and company didn&#8217;t let that stop them from drafting the best player available. Luther Burden III is coming into a tremendous environment to maximize his potential and prove that the NFL made a serious mistake by letting him slip out of the first round.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t be surprised if Burden becomes one of Caleb Williams&#8217; favorite targets next season.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: Stephanie Amador Blo &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bears draft steal Luther Burden III sent a clear warning to the NFL, proving teams made a mistake by passing on him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4976,"featured_media":230263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,23,36],"tags":[32605,9585,10075,7403,32932,246,32283,8857],"class_list":["post-230235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-bears","category-nfl-news","tag-2025-nfl-draft","tag-ben-johnson","tag-caleb-williams","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-luther-burden-iii","tag-nfl-news","tag-rome-odunze","tag-ryan-poles"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230235"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230275,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230235\/revisions\/230275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}