The Chicago Bears will rely heavily on the connection between quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Luther Burden III this season, which magnifies some recent struggles for the offense early in training camp.
It is important not to overhype anything that happens in early August, good or bad, save for injuries — of which Chicago has already had its fair share. So while Burden caught a stinger in practice on Tuesday, August 4 that multiple reports don’t indicate is anything serious, Ben Solak of ESPN offered notes on Williams and Burden from a couple days prior that are cause for, perhaps, mild unease.
“The wet field seemed to dramatically impact Burden and Caleb Williams — there was one segment of 11-on-11 in which Williams targeted Burden three times and got three incompletions for his trouble — one clear miss, one clear drop and one that was somewhere in the middle,” Solak wrote of the session on August 1. “The people I spoke to are still shining with enthusiasm for Burden, so I’ll chalk the bad day up to the weather.”
Caleb Williams Needs to Improve Accuracy in 2026
GettyQuarterback Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.
Williams is an ascending quarterback and former No. 1 pick heading into his third NFL season in 2026 and already began significant myth building last year with a handful of late-game comebacks/heroics that included erasing an 18-point halftime deficit against the Green Bay Packers in Chicago’s first playoff victory since 2010.
Though Williams battled through accuracy issues in 2025, another leap forward in his play could begin legitimate conversations about his ceiling as one of the best QBs in the NFL at some point in the near future.
Burden, meanwhile, is a fantasy football darling heading into his second professional campaign. He led the Bears’ group of pass-catchers in essentially every advanced metric as a rookie, and several analysts (both traditional and fantasy) are projecting a breakout year as his target share should spike following the departure of former WR1 DJ Moore via a trade to the Buffalo Bills.
Luther Burden Must Curb Drops in 2nd NFL Season
GettyWide receiver Luther Burden III of the Chicago Bears.
Drops were a significant concern in the Bears’ offense last year and contributed, at least moderately, to a subpar completion percentage of 58.1 percent on Williams’ part.
Burden’s biggest concern in his rookie campaign, during which he finished ranked 18th out of 81 qualifying receivers based on Pro Football Focus’s player rankings, was his sometimes unsure hands.
According to PFF, Burden was responsible for five drops last year to go along with his 47 receptions for 652 yards and two touchdowns on 60 targets across 15 games played. However, Burden was also fourth in the league in passer rating when targeted at 123.1 and third in the NFL in yards after the catch at 7.3.
Getting Burden the football in space and letting his elite athleticism flourish is going to be a key part of Chicago’s offensive gameplan in 2026, alongside what was an elite running game last season (3rd overall in yards per game).
The Williams-Burden connection could prove an even more crucial element of the Bears’ attack given the loss of Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman to retirement and starting left tackle Ozzy Trapilo to a knee injury that might keep him out most, if not all, of the year.
If the Bears can’t protect Williams as well as they did in 2025, Burden will need to be a frequent and reliable outlet in the pass game.
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