Joe DeLeone and Ryan Roberts share their Luther Burden Scouting Report, breaking down why the Missouri football star will go on to be the best WR in the 2025 NFL Draft
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00:00Luther Burden is being way too disrespected right now, and he should actually be the first wide
00:05receiver selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Here's why. It feels like Missouri's Luther Burden hasn't
00:15been getting the respect that he deserves in this receiver class. It's been all Tedarola
00:19McMillan and not enough Luther Burden. Is he wide receiver one at the very, you know, the very top
00:24of what we're projecting and talking about here? And is he worthy of a first round pick? He's
00:29wide receiver one for me in this class, because I think that he's a player, Joe, that creates
00:34separation in multiple ways. And I think you have a lot of players like Tedarola McMillan,
00:38for instance, that separate really well in one capacity, but you don't have a bunch of guys that
00:42do it in various ways. Like I look at a Luther Burden, although his production was down, I think
00:48that a lot of that was due to him being banged up a little bit, Brady Cook not being an overly
00:52good passer, and then also the offense kind of being stagnated a lot this year.
00:56And I look at him though, and I say that kid can create separation as an athlete,
01:01that kid can create separation of his quickness in and out of breaks. And he's also a young man
01:05that also can affect the space game, right? Screen game, RPO, short crosses, like just get
01:10the football in his hands and let him evaluate space. You can even give him some jets, you can
01:15give him some ends arounds, like this is the type of player that you just figure out how to get the
01:18ball in his hands and he'll make good things happen. He feels at the very least he needs to
01:22be a first round pick. This receiver class is, it's really not good. We're lacking the typical
01:28talent that we see on day two. There's not a lot of options to turn to. A team needing a really
01:35explosive yards after catch player to be their second wide receiver or a third guy that thrives
01:41in the slot, that is where Luther Burden is going to be set up to succeed the most.
01:46If there's the expectation that a team that doesn't have any receivers and that like,
01:49we got to take him, this is wide receiver one. He's going to fix all of our problems.
01:53You're not going to get that with Luther Burden. His production this year wasn't great for the
01:57answers that you just brought up here, but are there weaknesses that we should be concerned about
02:02when we're talking about him as a prospect? I think he can be snappier in and out of breaks.
02:06I think one thing that we've seen is that he's such a good athlete. I think he's a little bit
02:10lackadaisical as a route runner for the back, lack of a better word, right? Like I think that
02:14he can just be a little bit more sharp and aggressive getting in and out of those breaks
02:18to create easier separation. And then also Joe, I think that just overall, it's just,
02:23it's about the nuance of playing the position, right? Like let's hit blind spots a little bit
02:26easier. Let's understand how to manipulate defensive backs when their backs are turned.
02:30Like those little things I think could go a long way. Cause we're talking about a great athlete,
02:35right? We're talking about a guy that once he gets the football in his hands and once he has
02:39a one-on-one opportunity, he can make a lot of big plays and he can even win at the catch point at
02:42times. But I think that we just really need a maturation, get him with a good wide receiver
02:46coach, get him with a good offensive coordinator that can really round out his game. If that
02:50nuance comes and understanding of sharper route breaks and how to manipulate zone comes, I think
02:56we're talking about a perennial thousand or receiver potentially in the right spot.
02:59And I think with all that in mind too, if you have a circumstance where he's freed up because
03:06attention is pushed elsewhere, where he gets to be the second option, because there's a lot of
03:12focus on whoever the primary receiver might be. Easy example, Cincinnati Bengals. I don't know if
03:19that's like a direct right strong fit, but everybody's focused on Jamar chase every single
03:24snap. They're worried about what he's going to do. So that can allow a guy like Luther burden
03:29to win after the catch, to take a drag route and make people miss to pick up extra yards.
03:34He can take a screen and rush up field and work his way past defensive backs to pick up even extra
03:41yardage. He needs to be in a strong situation in order to succeed. Now, I think as comparison,
03:48I like him as Debo. I think that Debo Samuel is always the easy one that we can make for these
03:53guys that are yak monsters. And then we did this every single cycle that, Oh, who's the next Debo
04:00Samuel. We've done it every single year. It's better than Malachi Corley this cycle last year
04:04for some people, but none of those guys seemingly have worked that we've compared him to Debo
04:09Samuel. You have a better comparison that I like equally that you think that this is the next
04:15golden Tate in the NFL. Yeah. Cause I don't think that you can win strictly off of just being a yak
04:21guy, right? Like there has to be other parts of your game because otherwise you are just a niche
04:26football player. But I think when you talk about golden Tate in his best years, I know he had a
04:30couple okay seasons with Seattle, but when he got to the Detroit lions, this was that, that prototype
04:37slot receiver who was incredibly dense, who worked after the catch broke a ton of tackles.
04:42It was all about second effort yardage and explosives after the football was in his hands.
04:47But the thing that we underrated about golden Tate was gold tape was also really physical at
04:51the catch point for his size. Like he was never going to be stellar there because he was only
04:54about five, 10, 200 pounds. Like Luther Burton is Burns probably five, 11, five, 10, 205 pounds,
05:00somewhere in that ballpark, but he can do it in spurts. He can win a contested catch against a
05:06similar size Nickelback and then the jets, the explosiveness, the short area stuff,
05:11and then the tackle breaking ability ultimately. Right? So this is the
05:14modern slot receiver, get the football in his hands, break some tackles,
05:18create extra yardage like a golden tape, but also a little bit tougher in the air than you
05:23would anticipate as well. It kind of makes you wonder, was golden Tate, was he put into the NFL
05:27too soon? What, what could have golden Tate had been if he was in this late 20 or mid 20 twenties
05:35God, that feels disturbing to say mid 20 twenties of the NFL where,
05:39yeah, having playmakers, allowing them to just get the rock and see what they can do with it.
05:44A lot of these offenses are set up to find success for these types of prospects and Luther
05:48Burton could be the next golden Tate folks. Let us know below in the comments, what team do you
05:52want to see draft Luther Burton hit the like button and subscribe. And we'll talk to you later.