Discover a hidden gem among Bears players to draft in fantasy football this season with tremendous upside.
The Chicago Bears have had roster turnover this offseason on both sides of the ball.
The defense was very inconsistent throughout the year. The Bears allowed the sixth-most rushing yards (134.5), the 11th-most passing yards (239.2), and the 10th-most points per game (24.4) last season.
On defense, they lost Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Nahshon Wright, Tremaine Edmunds, Andrew Billings and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
In free agency, the Bears brought in Coby Bryant and Devin Bush.
The offense had plenty of change as well.
It started with center Drew Dalman, who announced his retirement from football. Then, the Bears traded D.J. Moore to the Buffalo Bills for a second-round pick. The trade gave the team $16.5 million in cap space.
Olamide Zaccheaus, Devin Duvernay, Travis Homer and Durham Smythe are also no longer on the team.
We are still a couple of months away from the start of the 2026 season. With training camp still a few weeks away, fantasy football talk has begun.
ESPN released an article highlighting the players primed for a sleeper, bust, or breakout year in fantasy football.
For the Bears, Luther Burden was labeled as a breakout player by Tyler Fulghum.
"Luther Burden III's second season in Chicago sets up nicely for him to break out in a BIG way," Fulghum said. "Ben Johnson calling plays. Caleb Williams at the trigger. DJ Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus out the door, leaving 150 vacated targets from last year. Rome Odunze's altered bone structure in his foot being his "new normal." All these factors form a tantalizing opportunity for Burden to bust out. He already showed on tape as a rookie that he is elite with the ball in his hands. His underlying efficiency metrics (albeit on a small sample), rank among some of the best all-time as a rookie. Had he reached qualifying thresholds, he would have ranked third among all WRs in yard per route run (2.92), behind only Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Other rookies to post a YPRR north of 2.5 in the last decade include Nacua, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. That is the bull ceiling case for Burden: a top-5 player at his position currently going as WR28 in ESPN drafts.
Moore's departure means Burden will command more targets in the Bears' receiver room. He could even be in a position to take over WR1 duties after Rome Odunze's recent injury.
Odunze played in 12 games before suffering a stress fracture in his left foot. His bone structure has changed due to the injury, and there's no guarantee that he'll be back to his old self right away in 2026.
Burden showed glimpses of the kind of player he is at times last season. He had 101 receiving yards in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys, and from Weeks 14-17 he totaled 289 receiving yards.
Burden has the opportunity to be a playmaker for the Bears with Moore out of the picture and is definitely someone fans should consider drafting this year in fantasy football.
