LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears hoped to fortify their backfield in the second round of the draft. They felt strongest about Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson, whose receiving and pass blocking they saw fitting well in Ben Johnson's offense.
After the Bears' efforts to move up from the No. 39 pick failed, Henderson was taken at No. 38 by the New England Patriots.
The Bears pivoted to the next-highest-rated player on their board and drafted Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III.
The selection was significant for two reasons: After using the No. 10 pick on Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, the Bears did something they'd never done in the common draft era (aka since 1967) by selecting two pass catchers with their first two picks. The second is that Chicago chose to add another star wide receiver to a room top-heavy with talent that already features receivers Rome Odunze, drafted ninth overall by the Bears in 2024, and DJ Moore.
Beginning Friday, when the Bears kicked off a three-day rookie minicamp, Loveland and Burden have started being incorporated into an offense that is not devoid of weapons. While the rest of the spring for Loveland will focus on the mental parts of learning the scheme and the nuances of playing tight end while he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery, Burden will take steps on the field toward showing Johnson the type of role he can handle.
"My mindset is that every time I get the ball, I'm trying to make the playcaller give me the ball some more," Burden said. "I'm always trying to make a play."
Burden was often the top target in Missouri's offense, particularly during a sophomore season in which he posted 1,212 receiving yards (one more than Marvin Harrison Jr., who was the top receiver drafted in 2024). Burden was a first-team All-SEC selection in 2023, then again in 2024 despite his production dipping (536 fewer receiving yards on 25 fewer catches).
Not getting as many targets as he wanted during his junior season is what Burden says "prepared me for the next level." Maintaining that mindset will be necessary for Burden and others in Chicago's revamped offense.
"There's one ball, and someone's going to be hot one week," general manager Ryan Poles said. "Another person's going to be hot the next, and we gotta support that person. If that means you're blocking, whatever that means, you gotta do your part to your highest level so that we can win football games."
Moore, the recipient of a four-year, $110 million contract last July, led the Bears with 966 yards on 98 catches (with a team-high 140 targets) and six touchdowns last season. And Odunze aims to seize a bigger role after turning 101 targets into 54 catches for 734 yards and three touchdowns. The challenge for Burden and the coaches will be figuring out where he fits best. Burden ran 75% of his routes in 2023-24 from the slot, a role occupied last season in Chicago by Keenan Allen.
Adding Loveland and fellow tight end Cole Kmet (fourth in receiving in 2024) to an already crowded mix creates an embarrassment of riches around second-year quarterback Caleb Williams. It's a far cry from where the Bears were three years ago when Poles set out to rebuild a roster that didn't have a pass catcher generate more than 600 receiving yards during the 2022 season.
"That's something Ben and I have talked about," Poles said. "I know that's something he can handle, and he's going to have conversations with the guys about just being selfless and doing what's best for the team.
"You know, we gotta win football games, and I know that the more talent that you have on the team, the better your opportunity is to win games. We haven't won a lot of games here, so, yeah, things might be a little bit different. You may not be the only person, but at the end of the day the goal is for us to win."
The cerebral nature of Johnson's playcalling style is something that stood out to Poles and the Chicago staff when studying the former Lions offensive coordinator. Johnson's Detroit offenses had clear-cut roles for top weapons, with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams or Sam LaPorta taking turns finishing as the leading receiver in 17 regular-season games in 2024. Detroit running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery also combined for 88 catches for 858 yards and four touchdowns.
Meanwhile, as the Lions kept winning, receivers Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond and the Lions' No. 2 tight end, Brock Wright, remained engaged with their route running and blocking and receptions on a smaller scale. The Bears noticed, and it gave them confidence their new head coach could handle the same with a new set of personalities.
"I think all we did [during the draft] is we might've just turned up the [expectations] notch a couple of dials for certain people in the building," Johnson said. "That's a good thing."
The Bears expressed similar sentiments after the 2024 draft, when Poles declared it was going to be "really hard" for players to make the 53-man roster. That's a message Johnson expressed to Chicago veterans at the beginning of the offseason program, going as far to say there is "no depth chart right now," a message that will be reiterated to rookie draft picks, undrafted free agents and those at Halas Hall this weekend on a tryout basis.
While still months away from players defining their roles, what Johnson needs to see this spring and in training camp is how players handle when their number isn't called.
"What I'm going to be curious to see is what guys look like when the ball's not in their hands on offense," Johnson said. "Yeah, you're right, we have a lot of weapons. So how are you going to run your route when you might not be No. 1 in the progression? How are you going to block for your teammate when he has the ball?
"Because when you do those things right, then, as a coaching staff, we're going to want to get you the ball a little bit more."