Bears Training Camp Battle Breakdown: Can Luther Burden III make up for lost time and who else will stand out behind DJ Moore and Rome Odunze?

The Chicago Bears made an effort to really overhaul the depth at the wide receiver position this offseason which will help bring some healthy competition to the room.

The two main starters will be DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. Under head coach Ben Johnson, Moore and Odunze will likely play a high percentage on the outside but will still be moved around to create various mismatches.

Behind those two returning stars, let's take a look at the rest of the revamped position to determine who might stand out.

Luther Burden III

When it comes to pure talent as a play-maker, second-round rookie Luther Burden III is easily the third-best WR on this roster. Burden can attack defenses all over the field and line up all over the formation.

Burden was by far the best RAC player in the 2025 class and his down year in 2024 that dropped his stock can be attributed to many factors that were out of his control.

Speaking of factors out of his control, Burden missed most of the spring/summer due to a soft tissue injury that caused him to fall behind. He's also one of the 30 second-round selections who has yet to sign his rookie deal. The last thing Burden and the Bears need is a potential hold out like we saw with Tre Harris and the Chargers.

"He misses a lot," Johnson said about Burden being sidelined. "Any time you're not out there, if you're in the training room when the rest of the guys are practicing, you're losing valuable time; valuable time with your coaches, valuable reps with your teammates, the ability to build the trust that we're talking about."

Olamide Zaccheaus

The main threat pushing Burden for playing time in 2025 is going to be Olamide Zaccheaus, who signed with the Bears on a one-year deal following a strong season as a role player with the Washington Commanders.

Zaccheaus is a coach's dream. He might be a little undersized but he certainly doesn't play like it. He's a willing blocker at the position, he can find easy holes in zone coverage, and he's a really talented player after the catch.

All are key attributes Ben Johnson said he's looking for out of the slot in this offense and Zaccheaus will be a hard player for the coaches to take off the field. And with Burden out, he's gotten a much better grasp on the offense and connection with QB1.

"What [Zaccheaus] shows is elite run after the catch ability," Johnson added. "He's an immense competitor, he's got some speed... That excites me. We're going to really emphasize the run after catch, the blocking after catch, of our passing game to gain some hidden yardage that way. He really showed last year that's an area he excels."