Luther Burden is one of the most polarizing players in the 2025 draft class, and the difficulty of his evaluation is a big reason for that. He’s an incredibly talented player who was used in a hyper-specific role that won’t directly translate to the NFL. There are flashes of brilliance but plenty of moments that leave you scratching your head as well.
Measurements
Height: 6’0”, Weight: 206, Arm Length: 31.25’’, Hands: 8.5’’
Testing (Combine)
40-Yard Dash: 4.41, 10-Yard Split: 1.54
Scouting Overview
Burden ran over 81% of his routes from the slot and under 15% from out wide in each of the last two seasons. It’s clear that Missouri’s goal was to get the ball to Burden via the path of least resistance, meaning he saw a ton of designed touches in almost every conceivable way, and for good reason. He is an absolute nightmare to tackle. He has such a deep toolbox of moves as a ball carrier. He can make defenders miss with quick feet, he’s excellent at mitigating contact to keep his balance, he’ll run through you, and he’ll run by you.
When he’s not getting designed touches, he shows some really promising skills as a route runner. He has excellent burst off the line of scrimmage, and is such a natural separator. He doesn’t get to show it often, but Burden also knows how to set up his routes to beat man coverage. He modulates his tempo, attacks leverage and uses his upper body to sell his breaks. He’s also very adept at using his arm to maintain separation late in the route without pushing off. Burden’s also a very skilled pass catcher. In particular, he tracks the football very well, and has great body control, allowing him to make late adjustments to throws. He’s capable of almost anything you need a receiver to do, he just doesn’t show these skills consistently enough.
There are a large chunk of plays that leave me wondering what his assignment even was. There will often be some combination of weird route spacing, low effort, and poor decision making. Burden will run himself into coverage when he could settle in the open area, or stop running when he could easily continue his route into space. This will especially be an issue if he continues to play almost exclusively in the slot. At the same time, if he does play outside more than he did in college, how will he fare against press coverage? He has almost no experience facing press coverage, so while the tools are there, he will need to learn how to apply them.
Another big issue, or at least uncertainty with Burden, are the reports of his lack of maturity and work ethic. I tend to leave that stuff to NFL teams because I’ve never met the kid, but you can definitely see signs of this on his tape. He rarely, if ever, runs clearout routes at full speed. If Burden isn’t expecting the ball, you shouldn’t expect 100% effort. He also offers next to nothing as a blocker, and generally doesn’t look interested in the parts of football that don’t involve him getting the football. At the very least, this will be something to monitor going forward.
To sum all of this up, I’m still uncertain about what Burden’s best role in the NFL will be. On the surface, he profiles as an obvious slot receiver, but he would see much more zone coverage in the slot, and Burden does his best work against man. However, if he does end up playing outside more, there could be a big learning curve.
Player Comparison
There are two player comparisons that encapsulate Burden’s paths to success very well: Brandon Aiyuk and Rashee Rice. Aiyuk was very similar to Burden as a prospect. He was billed as an elite athlete who had a long way to go as a route runner. Now he’s on the best route runners in the NFL when healthy, and is used purely as an X receiver. Rice was the opposite. A vertical X receiver in college, he’s now one of the best underneath receivers in the NFL, and rarely sees targets more than ten yards downfield. I could see Burden becoming either of these players in the NFL. These multiple paths to success are a big reason I’d be willing to bet on Burden despite some of the flaws.