Over the course of the first half of the season, many Chicago Bears fans noticed a painful trend within Ben Johnson's offense.
The usage of rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III was way down, while the. usage of veteran Olamide Zaccheaus was far too high. When Burden touched the football, though, it was obvious he needed to be featured more.
Finally, in Week 11, we saw Burden's snap count far surpass that of Zaccheaus'. And, the head coach commented on his decision to finally make the switch:
"You get what you earn. And I think he’s earned the increased snaps…He’s steadily climbed."
That may or may not be a slight to Zaccheaus, but it doesn't matter. We know who the better player is, and so does Johnson.
Luther Burden has earned the trust of Ben Johnson and will continue to see more snaps
Back in Week 3, Burden exploded onto the scene but only played sparingly. He ended the day with three receptions on three targets, but for 101 yards, including a long touchdown off a trick play. Since then, he has not seen over four targets in a game and has had two targets or fewer in three separate contests.
Finally, though, Burden saw a season-high in snaps and targets (five) against the Minnesota Vikings. Following Burden's outsnapping of Zaccheaus, it was extremely clear that he would be used more going forward.
Johnson didn't beat around the bush, either. He has truly earned the snaps. Bears fans have seen little flashes to this point, but Johnson finally saw enough, all around, to give the rookie more playing time.
We don't know what has happened (or had not yet happened) behind the scenes, but whatever it was, one thing is now a fact: Burden is ready.
A player who was once viewed as a first-round talent coming out of Missouri somehow fell to the second round and landed in the lap of Johnson. This Bears offense was bound to have an overflow of weapons from that moment on.
It was only a matter of time before Burden was given more opportunities, too. With the ball in his hands, Burden is absolutely electric. His yards per touch (12.1) are almost five yards more than that of Zaccheaus' (7.6).
Not to mention, Burden's catch percentage (82.6) is far superior to Zaccheaus' (64.0).
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This has been a long time coming, and it's about time. Bears fans, there's no looking back now. This offense is about to become even more electric, and, as Caleb Williams recently alluded, it's still far from reaching its potential.