Luther Burden III proved in Week 6 that he's Bears' WR1 (not Rome Odunze)

While Chicago Bears fans were excited to have their franchise quarterback, Caleb Williams, back on the field in their 31-23 Week 6 win over the Atlanta Falcons, they had to be pleased with what Luther Burden III showed on the field.

Burden finished with eight catches for 95 yards, averaging 11.9 yards per reception. His longest catch was a 25-yarder.

Williams played a big role in getting the Bears' offense on the right track. The plan should be to put the ball in Burden's hands and make him the top guy in the passing game.

Luther Burden III proved that he should be WR1 on Bears moving forward

This season, Burden has caught 31 passes for 361 yards and one touchdown, averaging 11.6 yards per reception. He also has seven rushes for 22 yards, including an 11-yard run.

In the first six games, Burden has had an up-and-down season, and he hasn't been featured in the offense as much as fans hoped. He has so much hype around him in training camp as a breakout star, but that hasn't really happened until the Falcons game.

Everyone has focused on making Rome Odunze the WR1 on this Bears team, but he hasn't been able to step up in that role. Odunze has been just as inconsistent as Burden has been early in the year.

The crazy part is that the Bears aren't hiding how they feel about Odunze as WR1 over Burden. In the Falcons game, Odunze was on the field for 96% of the offensive snaps, while Burden got 39% of the 30 total snaps.

Chicago is leaving so much meat on the table by not playing Burden more. On those 30 snaps, Williams targeted Burden 26.7% of the time.

It's as clear as day that Williams wants Burden on the field and wants to give him as many targets as possible. That leaves Bears head coach Ben Johnson to explain why they won't let Burden play more than he has.

So many more questions about why Burden is being overlooked now, even though everyone was excited about him before the season. He is taking advantage of his limited snaps, which is great to see, but how much more could he do for this offense if he was on the field more often.

Entering this Week 7 New England Patriots game, Burden should be the offensive focal point and get the ball in his hands. If that means more wide receiver reverses, jet sweeps, or screen passes, that could be some routes to take. Burden is at his most dangerous when you send him downfield vertically; his speed does the talking.

Knowing what kind of coach Johnson is, he'll find creative ways to let Burden loose in this offense. It just needs to happen more often.

Read more: Grading Caleb Williams' Week 6 performance in triumphant return as Bears QB

Burden has proven time and again that he could be the WR1 this team needs, but they have to give him the ball. Williams will keep spreading the ball out, as he does best, but at the end of the day, Burden needs the ball in his hands when it counts, not Odunze.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow