Rookie Luther Burden III is rapidly earning more chances, impressing coaches with productive catches and a growing trust from his quarterback.
Chicago Bears wideout Rome Odunze rebounded in the 24-20 win over the New York Giants on Sunday.
In the previous game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he finished with zero yards on three targets. That didn't faze him, as he ended with 86 receiving yards and one touchdown versus New York.
There was another player that flew under the radar with his performance in the win as well. Rookie Luther Burden III had 51 receiving yards and caught all three of his targets.
Head coach Ben Johnson spoke at a press conference recently and shared that the rookie's targets are going to increase more and more as he has proven to be productive with his targets.
"I think you've slowly seen his rep count go up," Johnson said. "He's a guy that's starting to get more targets. It's a trust level between the coaches and the players. It's the trust level between a quarterback and a receiver. He continues to ascend. So, he's been very productive when we've been able to get the ball in his hands, and there's a strong argument that we should get it to him more."
Burden was drafted in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Missouri. In three years with the Tigers, he accounted for 2,263 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns.
He has been a little inconsistent with the Bears but has shown great flashes this season. After recording just two receiving yards in his first two games, he went off against the Dallas Cowboys and had 101 in the 31-14 win back in Week 3.
Burden has been very efficient as a rookie, only dropping three passes so far. He caught all three of his targets on Sunday.
The rookie has 222 receiving yards and one touchdown in eight games played.
It's still early, but it looks like Chicago made two promising consecutive receiver picks in the last two drafts. Odunze was taken ninth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft and currently leads the team with 559 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
Odunze is on pace to become the franchise's first 1,000-yard receiver since DJ Moore did it in 2023, when he finished with 1,364.
Something to watch will be the number of targets that Burden gets in the upcoming game against the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday. He was limited to -3 receiving yards in the first meeting back in Week 1.
Kickoff is at noon CT on Fox.