DJ Moore Is Gone and Luther Burden III Either Steps Up or the Bears Have a Real Problem

Burden finished his rookie year with the best yards per route run since 2015. Moore is gone and 150 targets are open but the Bears need him to step up.

Jun 9, 2026; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III (10) warms up during Chicago Bears Minicamp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

All signs point to Bears' wide receiver Luther Burden III being on the precipice of a massive breakout season.

The second-year pass-catcher is coming off a promising rookie season where he developed into a key contributor down the stretch. He had 34 grabs for 482 yards over the final eight games of the regular season. That would come out to 72 catches for 1024 yards if you extrapolate those statistics over a 17-game season.

NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks thinks Burden will be able to build off that second-half performance in 2026. He included the receiver on his All-Breakout Team for the 2026 NFL season.

"As the Bears continue to expand the playbook to exploit the individual and collective talents of their perimeter weapons, Burden could see his numbers explode as the new No. 1 playmaker in the Windy City," Brooks wrote.

Burden will be relied on as an every-down contributor

Dec 14, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III (10) celebrates after a first down during the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Between the offseason departures of DJ Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus, the Bears have 150 targets to distrubute to their pass-catchers this season. While Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland are safe bets to acquire a healthy amount of those targets, the same can be said for Burden.

You could make a strong case that Burden has the highest ceiling among their three star pass-catchers, and that's saying a lot considering how great each of them can be individually.

Likewise, Burden's also better equipped to handle a lot of the short routes that Moore ran over the past few years. His open-field elusiveness was on full display both before (in terms of his route-running, which is the main reason why his ceiling is as high as it is) and after he had the ball in his hands.

The rookie-year metrics back up the hype

Dec 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III (10) makes a catch to score a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers in the first half at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Luther Burden III was a metric darling in his rookie season. He was near the top of the league in virtually every single metric that's relevant for a receiver.

According to Next Gen Stats, his 4.6 yards per separation led all pass-catchers. After he had the ball in his hands, he had the third-best yards after the catch average of 7.4 yards. Meanwhile, his 2.71 yards per route run put him in elite company among receivers. On top of being the third-most in the league in 2025 (behind only Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba), that figure ranked first among all rookie receivers since 2015.

With more opportunities in the passing game, the sky is the limit for how much he can accomplish in year two. Backup quarterback Case Keenum has already gone on record to say that Burden can be special, and it feels safe to assume that's a shared mindset among the locker room.