Ben Johnson just put unnecessary pressure on Bears WR Luther Burden

The Chicago Bears themselves have quite lofty expectations after nearly reaching the NFC Championship game in Ben Johnson’s first season in the Windy City. Even with the sky-high expectations the team have — and the pressure that comes with it — Luther Burden III somehow has more pressure than the team as a whole. Not just because the Bears are expecting a year two leap so massive they felt comfortable trading D.J. Moore, but because of who Johnson compared Burden to. 

“(Amon-Ra) St. Brown in Detroit, who I have a strong affinity for, he plays the game the same way,” Johnson said. "I feel that from Luther. I know he wasn’t a full-time starter for us a year ago, but the snaps that he did have, he’s got that competitive edge and desire to be great,” Johnson said about Burden, per Kevin Patra on NFL.com.

St. Brown has turned into one of the NFL’s best after being a Day 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Johnson was a key piece of St. Brown’s development into an elite receiver, so if anybody can say that about Burden, it’s Johnson. That doesn’t take any less pressure off Burden though. 

Luther Burden has small margin for error in Year 2

Part of the reason the Bears felt comfortable sending Moore to Buffalo was, for one, they got a second-round draft pick out of it, so if things go awry, they could take a flier on someone in the draft or trade valuable draft capital for an upgrade. The big reason, though, is because of how Burden became more of an asset to this offense at the end of the year. 

In his final eight games of the regular season, he averaged nearly six targets per game, compared to not having a game with more than four targets in his first seven NFL games. That goes to show that Johnson and the offense started to find ways to incorporate him more into the offense. You only do that when you trust said player to handle an increased workload.

Now that he’s the No. 2 target on this offense, he’ll have to produce like it. He won’t have the same margin for error like he did as a rookie. This offense is relying on him to pick up the slack when teams take Rome Odunze out of the game.

Why the Amon-Ra St. Brown comparison is fair, but unnecessary

It’s fair for Johnson to see the same potential in Burden as he saw in St. Brown, but to actively compare them is unfair and simply unnecessary. Now Burden will constantly be comparing his development to Brown or even comparing his progress to Brown. That’s the type of thing that can shatter a player’s confidence. That’s not to say he will do that or even crumble under that pressure, but it’s a lot to carry in year two. 

St. Brown is coming off a 1,400-plus yard season, the second such of his NFL career. In each of the last three seasons he’s had double-digit touchdown receptions. Even moreso, St. Brown had 915 receiving yards his rookie season compared to Burden’s 652 receiving yards last year. That means Johnson is essentially saying he’s expecting Burden to double his production from a year ago. It’s not impossible, but a lot to ask for a guy that isn’t the No. 1 receiver on this team. 

Burden will probably handle that type of pressure just fine, otherwise Johnson probably wouldn’t have been bold enough to draw that comparison. But it doesn’t mean he needed to. It’s better to let players develop at their pace and develop in their own way, rather than comparing them to a first-team All-pro player. St. Brown has been an All-pro the last three seasons, landing on first team in 2023 and 2024 and second team last year. 

Good for Johnson to see that potential in Burden, but it’s maybe better to let them grow into a new role first before dropping massive expectations. That’s not to say Burden can’t live up to them, but it also means anything less and he won’t ever ditch the bust allegations.

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