Image: Butch Dill-Imagn Images
Caleb Williams led the Bears to another exciting win this past Sunday, anchoring a 14-point comeback in the fourth quarter to defeat the Giants 24-20 at home. This win brings the Bears to a 6-3 record and establishes them firmly in the NFC Wild Card race, as they now trail the Lions for second place in the NFC North.
Despite the exciting fourth-quarter performance, the Bears’ offense was far from perfect. Rome Odunze, DJ Moore, and Olamide Zaccheaus all dropped crucial passes during the game. Zaccheus was the worst offender, as he dropped three passes and made a noticeably poor effort blocking. Luther Burden was the only receiver on the team who caught all of his targets. He caught three passes for 51 yards, averaging 17 yards per catch and target for the day. Luther’s breakaway speed and big play potential pose a frustrating question: why are Ben Johnson and the coaching staff still limiting his snaps?
The Case for More Snaps
Over his first eight games in the NFL this year, Luther Burden leads the team in passer rating when targeted with 136.6 and yards per target with 12.3. Out of just 18 targets, he has caught 16 passes and has recorded a single drop. Luther also has the highest catch percentage on the team with 88.9%, and the longest reception of the year with his 65-yard touchdown in Week 3 against the Cowboys.
Recording exciting numbers in limited snaps, it’s puzzling why Luther has not been used as a focal point of an offense that has struggled in the first halves of games. What is even more head-scratching is when you look at the drop rate of the other receivers. While Odunze has had a great sophomore season, he has struggled mightily with securing 50/50 balls. Although Odunze is only credited with two official drops, he has a somewhat alarming catch rate of just 53.6%. For the number one receiver on the team, this number needs to be much higher, as it currently ranks outside of the top 100 across the league.
Zaccheaus is an even bigger issue, as he recorded four drops in Week 10 alone and has proven to be a liability as of late. While Zaccheaus has the second-highest catch rate on the team with 64%, Zaccheaus serves as Caleb Williams’ primary target on screen passes, so this number would most likely be lower if relied upon for the deep ball. To make matters worse, Zaccheaus draws more targets from Caleb than both Luther and D.J. Moore, which is inexcusable at this point of the season. He is not a talented enough receiver to take away looks from an elite talent like Moore.
Overview
After crunching the numbers, it is clear to me and the rest of the fanbase that Luther needs to play more, over Zaccheaus at the very least. While this season has been promising for the passing offense, the receiving core is far from its full potential. This potential will never unlock itself if Luther does not see the field more often. Luther proved that he was a first round talent during his time at Missouri and has looked like a bargain draft pick in limited snaps. It’s time for Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams to put full belief in Luther and feed him with targets.
What are your thoughts on Luther Burden’s target share? Let me know in the comments.
