Bear Digest

Best and worst case for Bears' rookies Colston Loveland, Luther Burden revealed

The Chicago Bears are hoping for a big season from rookies Luther Burden and Colston Loveland, but not everything goes according to plan all the time.
Bryan Perez|
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The Chicago Bears' pair of rookie pass-catchers, first-round pick Colston Loveland and second-rounder Luther Burden III, have different levels of expectation in 2025. Loveland is projected to be the Bears' version of Sam LaPorta for Ben Johnson, while Burden is expected to emerge as a lethal WR3 alongside DJ Moore and Rome Odunze.

But with every best-case scenario, a worst-case also exists, and both were revealed in a recent outlook for 28 rookie skill players embarking on the 2025 NFL season.

For Loveland, a future Hall-of-Fame tight end was mentioned as his best case for 2025.

"We see shades of Travis Kelce. Loveland is a constant mismatch, and defensive coordinators can’t figure out how to stop him," NFL.com's Dan Parr wrote. "The former Wolverine feasts under Ben Johnson, who coached Sam LaPorta to a Pro Bowl season as a rookie."

As for Loveland's worst case? It's about his physical make up and second-year QB Caleb Williams struggling in Johnson's offense.

"The Bears’ offense never truly gets cooking with Caleb Williams still adjusting to a new system. Physical defenders are able to bully Loveland at the line of scrimmage a bit, and it becomes obvious he’ll need more play strength if he’s going to live up to his billing."

While I think hyping Loveland as a Kelce-next is a bit extreme (Kelce is one of the best to ever do it), I do think we saw enough in the 2025 NFL preseason to feel good about his chances of having a LaPorta-like impact this year.

Remember: LaPorta scored 10 touchdowns as a rookie mainly because of how explosive the Lions' offense was. It's entirely possible that Loveland doesn't have the same statistical success but still proves to be just as valuable (if not even more).

Even with so many unknowns surrounding the Chicago Bears' offense right now, Loveland is still projected to snag 61 passes for 713 yards and five touchdowns. It would be an incredibly productive rookie year for a tight end who's competing for targets with a slew of talented wideouts.

As for Luther Burden, his best-case scenario would have all Bears fans excited.

"Burden proves the rest of the league made a mistake by letting him fall to the Bears in Round 2 of this year’s draft," Parr wrote. "He looks like a potential WR1 of the future and is one of Caleb Williams’ favorite targets, even with a talented collection of pass catchers for the young QB to keep happy."

The other side of the coin has Burden unable to leapfrog Olamide Zaccheaus and having a down rookie experience.

"Ben Johnson prefers Olamide Zaccheaus as his No. 3 wide receiver, burying Burden on the depth chart while he sorts through some rookie growing pains. It’s a bumpy start to the Johnson era, with Williams and Burden never seeming to be on the same page."

Burden's projected stat line comes in at 49 catches for 625 yards and four scores. It's not production that wows, but if Burden takes a little while to land regular playing time, a season of more than 600 yards and a handful of touchdowns could actually be much more impressive than is sounds.

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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