And is this nosedive down draft boards even justified?
In the lead up to the 2025 NFL Draft, there has been a remarkable shift in how the top prospects at Wide Receiver have been projected in the overall draft order. However, there has been one Wide Receiver in particular that has stood out in regards to how far his perceived draft stock has fallen, so much so that it has turned into a figurative nosedive down mock draft boards. That receiver’s name is Luther Burden III, the 5’11, 208 pound 5 star recruit who has played three straight seasons for Missouri.
At one point early on in the draft process, he was earmarked to be a top 10 to 15 draft prospect. So the question everyone should be asking as draft day nears is why this former blue chip prospect’s draft stock has kamikazed to the point where major draft analysts are unsure as to where he will end up?
The Answer Is Not Simple
The answer to this question is complicated, as it is not due to any glaring holes in his game that have shown up in the scouting process, nor due to any medical issues that could impact his stock. It is first due to his lack of production the last year he played at Missouri. In 2023, Burden had 1,212 receiving yards as well as 9 touchdowns, which were phenomenal numbers that ranked near the top of FBS competition. However, in 2024 Burden only had 676 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns, clearly a dramatic downgrade in production from his previous year with the Tigers. What could have caused such a steep downturn in production?
That lies in the lack of Burden being featured in the offense as the focal point, as well as Missouri’s Quarterback Brady Cook dealing with a significant wrist injury he suffered halfway through the college football season.
In 2023 Burden was made a true staple of Missouri’s offense, getting targeted as the number one Wide Receiver. Meanwhile in 2024 he was seemingly targeted far less frequently for no explicit on the field reason. As if not targeting your star player frequently isn’t enough to dramatically lower his production, Brady Cook suffered a wrist injury midway through the season. This caused Cook’s accuracy on deep and intermediate passes to drop, reducing the amount of catchable passes coming Burden’s way, as well as causing Cook to throw less overall.
These two factors significantly contributed to Burden’s production being far below what he was capable of in 2024, and even though a lack of production is concerning in its own right, this alone does not explain Burden’s draft nosedive. After all, the reasons listed above, while not fully vindicating, definitely help explain the production concerns. So what is the second and bigger reason as to why Luther Burden’s draft stock has fallen so far?
Character Concerns Can Always Destroy Draft Stock
The second and more prominent reason as to why Luther Burden’s draft stock has cratered in recent months is due to character concerns that NFL Scouts and GM’s have noted about Burden. He has been labeled by many to be a diva, somebody that puts himself first and not the team. These criticisms of character are valid due to the clear lack of effort at times during games when he was asked to run block or when he ran routes where he wasn’t the primary receiver during a play. These concerns are something that should be looked at with a microscope. However, do these character concerns warrant such a precipitous fall from grace?
Is Luther Burden Truly a “Diva”?
With the above factors considered, it is understandable to want to take a deeper look at Burden to see if the above concerns are founded: it does not warrant such a fall from grace to the point of him going from a Day 1 to Day 2 pick. Character concerns will always be something that is team specific, and will vary throughout the NFL. But for Burden to be labeled a “diva” because he didn’t always give it his all in the run game and didn’t run his routes as hard as he could’ve when he was not the primary read is absurd. It is not justified for someone as talented as Luther Burden to fall so far down the board when the only two things that have caused this have either been out of his hands or due to him being labeled a “diva”.
There is an argument to be made that he doesn’t even fit that title: the coaching staff at Missouri specifically said that he always did whatever they asked of him. If being labeled a diva has something to do with Burden wanting the ball more, then that is completely understandable, he’s a phenomenal player and was justified in wanting the ball to come his way.
Will Luther Burden III be a top 10 to 15 draft prospect like he would have been had the 2024 season not happened? We will never truly know, but Burden still has a good chance to be a 1st round pick if NFL teams examine these concerns and determine that the talent he possesses makes him worthy of a pick in the 1st round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
