Ben Johnson has been busy adding a whole lot of weapons for Caleb Williams, ahead of his second season in the NFL. One of those weapons is struggling to get on the field early, which is a problem. Luther Burden III missing part of voluntary OTAs due to injury isn’t just hurting the team early, but it’s also hurting him.
What made Johnson such an attractive head coaching candidate was his unique offensive mind, which comes with a complicated offensive scheme. Not being part of the install could push him behind the 8-ball in learning this new, intricate offensive plan Johnson has in mind for the Chicago Bears.
The downside to that is it makes it one less weapon Williams will have early in the season, which, if last year was any indication, the more weapons he has, the better he can be. After a 4-2 start to the year, the Bears went on a 10-game losing streak before beating the Green Bay Packers in the final game of the season.
Johnson won’t allow the offense to regress as badly as it did a year ago. But he also won’t wait on players like Burden to fully be part of the offense. Johnson will have no problem finding a fill-in to make sure the offense doesn’t skip a beat. And that could end up hurting Burden in the long run if he isn’t part of practice soon.
Luther Burden III's injury could push Bears offense's plans back
The worst thing for Burden right now is missing chances to make an impact with the offense and prove to the team and Johnson that he was the right pick for them. He felt he was underrated out of Missouri, so this would be the ideal chance to show why he felt that.
Injuries are unavoidable, for the most part, so you can’t blame him. But it could be costing him valuable time and valuable opportunity to find his fit. The good thing is, Johnson is going to find a role for him one way or the other.
Burden has the big-play ability of someone like Jameson Williams. That’s why this is an important time for him, too. Just as Johnson is learning his new team, he’s also learning which players he can maximize.
What makes his arrival in Chicago important as well is that they have a young receiver room and Rome Odunze didn’t have as big of an impact as other rookies like Malik Nabers last year. But the receiver room is wide open. D.J. Moore is the No. 1 option for now, but he’s a player who has been inconsistent since arriving in Chicago.
This offense has the playmakers to be just as destructive on offense as the Detroit Lions were a year ago. But if they aren’t healthy it won’t matter. Burden needs every opportunity he can to prove he’s worth building the offense around. This is the time for him to do just that.