LutherBurden III

News: 19 hours agoBurden (groin) returned to practice Wednesday, but he was contained to individual drills, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com reports.

Spin: Since exiting practice Aug. 8 due to a groin injury, Burden was given a prognosis of roughly one month, meaning preseason action was off the table. However, his ability to mix back into some drills Wednesday generally is a positive sign in his recovery. The Bears open the regular season Sunday, Sept. 13 at Carolina, a contest for which Burden will continue to ramp up for.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Burden enters his second NFL season as one of the most popular breakout candidates in fantasy. The 2025 second-round pick played sparingly during most of his rookie season, but flashed elite efficiency when called upon, ranking in the top five among wide receivers in catch rate (77%), yards per target (10.8), RAC (7.3) and YPRR (2.9). Burden is obviously an unproven commodity (he has two career top-20 fantasy outings, after all), but with DJ Moore no longer on the roster, he's a lock for a larger role and very well could lead Chicago in targets. He could cost a pretty penny on draft day, but Burden, 22, is a fine WR3 target with upside for more.