Ben Johnson: I'm buying Luther Burden stock right now

Player mentions

Article text

The Bears made a significant change to their wide receiver room this offseason when they traded DJ Moore to the Bills and the move set up a significant change for second-year wideout Luther Burden. Burden had 47 catches for 652 yards and two touchdowns while playing alongside Moore and Rome Odunze as a rookie, but the trade opens up an opportunity for Burden to do more and a need from the Bears for him to make the most of it. During his first press conference of the OTA period of the offseason program, head coach Ben Johnson said that the process is going well. "I’m buying Luther Burden stock right now ," Johnson said. "Just how he’s approached his offseason. It’s been electric. That showed up yesterday. He had numerous explosive plays. I loved how in Phase 2 he was finishing every single rep that he took and that really translated over to yesterday as well. So he’s in a really good spot." Johnson went on to say that he thinks Burden is playing at "a different speed" than he was last year because he is "not thinking as much" on the field. The Bears would like to see that growth continue over the next few months so that it pays off with a similar leap in his on-field production.