Burden on being overlooked, Trapilo on being disciplined and physical

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - 12 hours ago

CHICAGO - The Chicago Bears gave quarterback Caleb Williams yet another weapon with their first selection in the second round of the draft - wide receiver Luther Burden III out of Missouri.

Getting Burden III with the No. 39 overall pick was a steal, especially since he had a 69 percent chance of getting drafted in the first round per NFL Mock Draft Database.

“Where I come from and being overlooked my whole life, I just love to prove everybody wrong who got something negative to say about me … I was super happy. Felt in a great situation. Felt blessed. So, I’m super excited to be a part of this organization and I’m happy that they believe in me,” Burden III said. “I feel like this organization has a great group of guys in this facility that’s going to do everything that they can do to win games and that’s why they brought me here, to help the win games. That’s what I’m going to do.”

He joins a wide receiver room with veteran DJ Moore and Rome Odunze who is coming off of his rookie season. Burden III is a team player who is willing to do whatever is necessary to benefit his team and is also incredibly passionate about the game.

This is the kind of mentality that head coach Ben Johnson was looking for, making Burden III a perfect fit.

“I love football. Football has opened so many opportunities for me and I love football to death. It’s my life,” Burden III said. “I feel like I’m pretty much built to do anything on the field. I can catch, run routes, make people miss, score. I can do it all.”

Burden III surely can do a lot on the field, although his production did decline in the 2024 season. His sophomore campaign in 2023 was a breakout year for him. That year, Burden III was a Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC after recording 1,212 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

In 2024, he was still First-Team All-SEC. However, he finished the year with 25 less receptions than 2023 and only 676 receiving yards. Nonetheless, Burden III did manage to find the endzone numerous times, finishing the season with eight total touchdowns. Two of those were on the ground as he finished the 2024 season with 115 rushing yards.

His pick at No. 39 overall also officially completed the trade the Chicago Bears made in 2023 when they sent the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers. From that trade, the Bears acquired Moore, Williams, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, Burden III and offensive lineman Darnell Wright. However, they used their pick from the Panthers to trade down one spot before drafting Wright which is how Chicago was able to select punter Tory Taylor in the 2024 NFL Draft. Thus, Taylor was also acquired as a result of the Panthers trade.

Speaking of trades, Chicago also acquired the pick they used to select offensive lineman Ozzy Trapilo through a trade with the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo was able to move up in the draft while the Bears received the No. 56 overall selection, used to draft Trapilo, and the No. 62 overall selection in the draft which was used to draft defensive lineman Shemar Turner.

At 6 foot 8, Trapilo was one of the taller offensive line prospects in this draft. Thus, there were some concerns about his ability to maintain balance and not get beat by defenders.

However, Trapilo makes up for that with his disciplined attitude toward football by always working to perfect his technique and played with a control level of violence that allows him to be strategic yet physical at the same time.

“The most obvious con is I’m a taller guy. (I’m) more susceptible to have people get under my pads. So, it makes me have to fight harder to maintain good pad level, maintain good posture, balance, all that which is something that I really focus my game on. Now, it has its pros as well. Being a taller guy, you’re able to keep people away. Being just bigger, you’re naturally going to be stronger, be able to carry more weight on you. So, the normal pros and cons,” Trapilo said. “Being an offensive lineman, you definitely have to play with violence. I think it’s a type of violence that’s poised and under control. You never want to throw your hands too hard, get off balance because then you (are) going to fall on your face. So, it’s more of an under control violence I would say. Just playing nasty. That’s really the epitome of line play. I think the best linemen are the ones who play violent, but they also play under control with discipline and technique while doing it.”

Both Burden III and Trapilo were drafted into competitive locker rooms for their respective positions, which should lead to an interesting training camp for the wide receiver room and the offensive linemen.