Luther Burden III

Former wide receiver at Missouri. 2024: 60 catches, 666 receiving yards, 6 TD.

WR · Missouri · Jr. · #3

5′11″ · 208 lb · Saint Louis, MO

CFB Index 67 · #92 of 466 WRsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamChicago — drafted 2025, Rd 2, Pick 7, #39 overall

Recruiting

5★

WR recruit

No. 3 nationally · Signed with Missouri

Statement game9 rec · 158 ydsvs Florida (FBS) · W 33-31

Top 1% receiving yards game since 2021.

We need to get Luther Burden the ball on offenser/CFB game thread · ▲ 6His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Missouri. 2024: 60 catches, 666 receiving yards, 6 TD.

Signed as a 5-star recruit to Missouri in 2022.
Drafted round 2 by the Chicago in 2025.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Missouri, 2,248 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2023) — drafted at #39 overall by Chicago.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

202213 games

Signed with Missouri5-star out of East St. Louis

202313 games

All-SECfirst

202412 games

All-SECfirst

2025

Drafted by Chicagoround 2, pick 39

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★★

#3 national

CFB

College

Missouri

2022–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

R2 · #39

Chicago · 2025

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

4 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-SEC · 1ST TEAM

All-SEC 1st team (2024)

Badges

Top-10 Recruit

Coaching lineage · 2022–2024

1 coach

2022–2024

Eli Drinkwitz

Missouri

Played his entire career under Eli Drinkwitz.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

ChicagoEntering 2nd NFL season

#39Rd 2 · Pick 7

ChicagoEntering 2nd NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Eli Drinkwitz, all run-leaning offenses — 27-12 over that span.

2022Missouri6-7HC: Eli Drinkwitz · Run-leaning

2023Missouri11-2HC: Eli Drinkwitz · Run-leaning

2024Missouri10-3HC: Eli Drinkwitz · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

67Quality starter #92 of 466?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rush yards (95th percentile). Strength: rush tds (95th percentile). Concern: yards / catch (23rd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#176 / 610 · 71st pct

95.1%

TD rate#286 / 610 · 53rd pct

6.6%

Explosive rate#301 / 610 · 51st pct

14.8%

EPA / target#362 / 610 · 41st pct

0.80

Yards / catch#409 / 610 · 33rd pct

10.7

Box-score rates (8)

Rush yards#14 / 299 · 95th pct

125

Rush TDs#9 / 299 · 95th pct

Receptions#58 / 541 · 89th pct

Rec TDs#65 / 541 · 85th pct

Rec yards#129 / 541 · 76th pct

666

Long catch#316 / 541 · 40th pct

Fumbles lost#90 / 221 · 36th pct

Yards / catch#416 / 541 · 23rd pct

11.1

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

85th → 41st percentile

Explosive rate

90th → 51st percentile

Catch rate

89th → 71st percentile

TD rate

76th → 53rd percentile

Yards / catch

71st → 33rd percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	4.3	51.7	11.5	0.6
Road5g	6.0	60.8	9.2	0.4

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	5.0	64.7	12.3	0.7
Weeks 8+6g	5.0	46.3	8.8	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Eli Drinkwitz

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

67 · #92 of 466 WRs

Former five-star. Now #92 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Missouri	60	666	11.1	6	--
2023	Missouri	85	1,205	14.2	9	--
2022	Missouri	43	377	8.8	5	--
Career		188	2,248	12.0	20	--

Season	Team
2024	Missouri	10	125	--	31	1
2023	Missouri	8	38	--	60	--
2022	Missouri	19	92	--	151	1
Career		37	255	--	242	2

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 7 · Massachusetts · 2&8 · Q1 · EPA +5.71Luther Burden III run for 61 yds for a TD (Blake Craig KICK)
Week 12 · South Carolina · 4&5 · Q4 · EPA +5.20Brady Cook pass complete to Luther Burden III for 37 yds for a TD (J. Roberts Run For Two-point Conversion)
Week 13 · Mississippi State · 3&9 · Q2 · EPA +3.88Brady Cook pass complete to Luther Burden III for 28 yds for a TD (Blake Craig KICK)
Week 11 · Oklahoma · 3&16 · Q4 · EPA +3.50Drew Pyne pass complete to Luther Burden III for 33 yds to the OU 10 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Boston College · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.14Brady Cook pass complete to Luther Burden III for 44 yds to the BC 29 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Texas A&M · 3&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.11Brady Cook pass complete to Luther Burden III for 23 yds to the TA&M 25 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Boston College · 3&4 · Q2 · EPA +3.00Luther Burden III 19 Yd pass from Brady Cook (Nate Noel Run for Two-Point Conversion)
Week 1 · Murray State · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.98Brady Cook pass complete to Luther Burden III for 16 yds for a TD (Blake Craig KICK)
Week 8 · Auburn · 4&5 · Q4 · EPA +2.88Brady Cook pass complete to Luther Burden III for 16 yds to the AUB 25 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Mississippi State · 3&3 · Q3 · EPA +2.79Brady Cook pass complete to Luther Burden III for 28 yds to the MSST 27 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 51-0vs Murray State	3	39	13.0	1	19
Wk 2	W 38-0vs Buffalo	3	15	5.0	0	10
Wk 3	W 27-21vs Boston College	6	117	19.5	1	44	Season-high 117 yds
Wk 4	W 30-27vs Vanderbilt	6	76	12.7	2	25	2 TD catches
Wk 6	L 10-41@ Texas A&M	7	82	11.7	0	27
Wk 7	W 45-3@ Massachusetts	5	59	11.8	0	16
Wk 8	W 21-17vs Auburn	6	49	8.2	0	16
Wk 9	L 0-34@ Alabama	3	3	1.0	0	3
Wk 11	W 30-23vs Oklahoma	5	55	11.0	0	33
Wk 12	L 30-34@ South Carolina	8	69	8.6	1	37
Wk 13	W 39-20@ Mississippi State	7	91	13.0	1	28
Wk 14	W 28-21vs Arkansas	1	11	11.0	0	11
Total		60	666	10.5	6	44

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Luther Burden III

202213 games

202313 games

202412 games

2025

2024 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Possession Receiver

Players who play like Luther Burden III

Heisman trajectory

#121