Bears Need Luther Burden's Year 2 Leap to Keep Caleb Williams Rising

Luther Burden enters Year 2 with major pressure after the D.J. Moore trade, and the Bears need him to help push Caleb Williams toward stardom.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

There is nothing more crucial for the Chicago Bears this season than quarterback Caleb Williams taking another step forward toward cementing himself as a superstar.

Williams has shown a ton of promise over his two years, but even Bears general manager Ryan Poles has admitted the team needs to see more.

Of course, Williams needs to improve individually, but he'll also need help from his teammates and, more specifically, his pass-catchers.

That's part of the reason why Luther Burden is the Bears' most important second-year player heading into 2026, a label he was given by Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon.

"The second-round pick was only the fourth-most-productive pass-catcher on the Chicago roster last season, but D.J. Moore is gone and Bears head coach Ben Johnson is 'buying Luther Burden stock right now,'" he wrote. "There's a chance he forms a superstar duo with Rome Odunze, which could make the Bears a major contender."

Why Luther Burden is crucial for Caleb Williams

Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Burden is entering the 2026 campaign with plenty of hype, some of which has been built up by head coach Ben Johnson, as Gagnon pointed out.

“I’m buying Luther Burden stock right now," Johnson said. “He’s been extremely coachable.”

"He looks like he is moving at a different speed right now. He is not thinking as much. The game is slowing down for him," Johnson added.

Another reason for hype is that Burden played some of his best football at the tail end of the 2025 season and is now primed for a huge role in Chicago's offense in 2026.

Burden will, at the very least, step into the WR2 role, but there are many out there who believe he could actually become the WR1 ahead of Rome Odunze. That remains to be seen.

Either way, the Bears need both of their young wideouts to step up in order to help fill the void left by DJ Moore's departure after he was traded to the Buffalo Bills earlier this offseason.

Granted, Moore and Williams were never fully on the same page, but not having the veteran as a proven safety valve still matters and that's why Burden is so important.

One can certainly make the argument that Colston Loveland is just as important as Burden, and maybe even more so.

While we wouldn't put up too much of a fight about that, we would put Burden ahead of Loveland because the young tight end has already shown his elite ability, whereas the jury is out on Burden much more.

The Bears can only hope Burden will answer the bell. Right now, he looks to be on track to doing so, but we won't know for sure until Chicago takes the field in the regular season.