We’re getting closer to our first look at the 2026 Chicago Bears, and there’s one thing in particular ESPN’s Ben Solak wants to know about this squad: what are sophomore stars Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III about to do now that their roles are set to expand this season?
As Bears fans know, general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson moved veteran receiver DJ Moore this past offseason to make room for the glut of young talent in the pass-catching corps, which also includes 2024 No. 9 overall pick Rome Odunze. Assuming Odunze is healthy, he’s likely to see substantial targets and hopefully return to the level of production he enjoyed before leg injuries derailed his own sophomore campaign.
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But after what Loveland, the No. 10 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Burden, the 39th pick in the same class, did down the stretch of their respective rookie seasons, there’s no way they’re not going to be major parts of the offense.
Burden’s case is especially intriguing because he figures to slot alongside Odunze as a starter in Moore’s place—a scenario one could envision after he started to break out late in his rookie campaign.
“Burden averaged 2.92 yards per route run during the regular season. That’s tied with A.J. Brown for the best mark for a rookie receiver (minimum 50 targets) in the past 15 years. Just below Burden and Brown are Justin Jefferson, Odell Beckham Jr., Puka Nacua and Ja’Marr Chase. Those players did it on remarkably higher volume than Burden, but even the low-usage rookies who spiked in yards per route run (Tank Dell, Christian Watson, Tyreek Hill, Doug Baldwin) indicate a promising future for Burden,” Solak wrote.
After a slow start that likely had to do with a combination of inexperience and too many bodies ahead of him, Burden started getting more opportunities after Odunze went down and Olamide Zaccheaus’ hands turned into a liability. His explosive run-after-catch ability and improving route-running continued to earn him more snaps until he posted a three-game stretch of 67, 84, and 138 receiving yards in three of his final four regular-season games. Johnson sounds extremely committed to giving him more opportunities in 2026. Assuming Burden makes the strides with the playbook that we’d expect, we should expect him to take advantage.
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That said, we all know who the real top dog in this pass-catching pecking order is now.
Loveland’s insane finish to last season placed him almost immediately into top-five tight end conversations, punctuated by his monstrous eight-catch, 137-yard performance in the Wild Card Round against the Green Bay Packers. Calling him “unguardable” in that game didn’t do it justice. And there’s more where that came from, suggests Solak.
“Loveland is an impossible cover. Long and rangy, Loveland eats up ground similar to a receiver in his route stem. Loveland is snappy enough to separate from linebackers, but the real issue is how his size and toughness make him nearly impossible to play through. Safeties keep trying to light him up at the catch point with big hits. They look like they’re hit-sticking a telephone pole.
“The real needle-mover for Loveland is his blocking ability. He can dig out defensive ends and hold his water one-on-one in the running game. This makes him doubly dangerous in the play-action pass game, as his pre-snap alignment doesn’t tip Johnson’s hand to the opposing defensive coordinator. Safeties and linebackers have to meet him aggressively when he’s blocking downhill. But if they guess wrong and he’s climbing vertically for a route, their goose is cooked,” he wrote of the rising second-year tight end.
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Loveland’s massive surge, plus some injuries to the receiving corps, pushed him into the team lead for catches and receptions by year’s end. While the likes of Odunze will undoubtedly get a high share of targets in 2026 now that he’s back, Loveland is the real problem in that offense right now. The scary part: he doesn’t have Moore blocking his way for targets now, essentially elevating him to a WR2 role—if not WR1.
“At this time last year, Johnson was drawing up plays in his office to answer the question ‘How do we get the ball to Moore? What section of the playbook has my Moore go-tos?’ Those questions are gone, and in their place, the Loveland go-tos will fill more chapters. At this time last season, the Bears were hoping he could get healthy soon, but now they’re building the offense around his role,” Solak wrote.
The scary part: Loveland (58 catches for 713 yards) and Burden (47 catches for 652 yards) did all that in their rookie years without becoming prime offensive options until mid-season at earliest. Imagine what they might do now that the offense is going to start scheming up their touches from the get-go.
Hopefully, huge second years for the two of them will equal a massive third year for quarterback Caleb Williams. And if we get that, we might be talking about some big-time team accomplishments as well.
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