Chicago Bears Top Breakout Candidate in 2026
Newsweek · C · trust 50/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Luther Burden III enters the 2026 season as arguably the most hyped breakout candidate in the NFL , and the opportunity in front of him is enormous.
The Chicago Bears decided to move on from wide receiver DJ Moore this offseason, trading him to Buffalo, clearing the largest target share in the Bears' passing game, and all signs point to Burden being the biggest beneficiary.
Burden was an early second-round pick (No. 39 overall) in the 2025 NFL Draft after posting back-to-back first-team All-SEC seasons at Missouri. In his 2023 sophomore year, he hauled in 1,212 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 86 catches, the third-most receiving yards in the SEC behind only Malik Nabers and Xavier Legette.
That production didn't show up right away at the NFL level, though. Burden played just 402 snaps (34.84%) all season, significantly fewer than Moore, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland, and even Olamide Zaccheaus.
But after spending the first half of the season buried on the depth chart, he flipped a switch down the stretch. He caught six passes for 84 yards against the Browns in Week 15, then followed it up two weeks later with eight catches for 138 yards and a touchdown against San Francisco.
His workload picked up right along with it. From Week 11 on, he saw at least four targets in every game, including the playoffs, where he drew 14 targets across two postseason contests.
Burden finished his rookie season with 652 yards and two touchdowns on 47 catches, averaging 13.9 yards per reception.
When the ball finally came his way late in the year, he was nearly automatic. That efficiency, paired with his elite after-the-catch ability, is exactly why everybody's raving about him. Even head coach Ben Johnson went as far as to say he's " buying Luther Burden stock right now " earlier in the offseason.
With Moore gone and Odunze, the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, also carving out a bigger role, Burden slides into the No. 2 receiver spot in Johnson's offense, a scheme that's already shown to elevate skill-position players.
Caleb Williams also looks like he may be the future face of the league, coming off his own breakout 2025 season where he threw for 3,942 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions, along with 388 rushing yards. Williams' continued development only raises Burden's ceiling further.
There's no shortage of leftover targets to divide up between Odunze, Loveland, and Kmet, along with newcomers Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas, and Scotty Miller. But chances are Burden separates himself from that group without much of a fight, claiming a sizable target share in 2026.
And if Odunze doesn't take the reins as the team's top target, Burden might be the one who does.
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