Saturday Prospect Spotlight: Mizzou Elite

We return to the receiver world where we check in on Luther Burden III out of Missouri.

We have a fun Saturday of college football in front of us today. The best action of the day is going to happen in the 3:30 PM window as we get Georgia at Ole Miss, Michigan at No. 8 (yes, you read that correctly) Indiana, and Colorado at Texas Tech. Those are big games with big implications, but we also get some big brand names squaring off with Florida at Texas, Florida State at Notre Dame, and the marquee matchup of Alabama at LSU. Our weeks of full slates of college football are dwindling so enjoy this day with your feet up and a big plate of your favorite food. These are the best.

Reminder: As the Browns make a return to the first round of this year's NFL Draft, each Saturday we will highlight a player worth watching with the Browns’ prospect preferences in mind!

Obviously we will focus on the highest-ranked prospects this year because the Browns could have a wide range of outcomes for their pick, but we hope they select the 32nd overall prospect following a Super Bowl win but we will expand beyond that scope at times.

We return to draft mode with our usual eyes on the Cleveland Browns perspective. We return to the wide receiver class to see the names that could be worth selecting in that Top-15 range the Browns are almost guaranteed to end up in. Today we head to Columbia to discuss Luther Burden and what his value will be for teams come the 2025 NFL Draft.

History

Burden was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri where he attended East St. Louis High School and was ranked as the top skill position player in the country by 247 Sports. He was one of only four consensus Five Star recruits out of Missouri in the past 20 years and chose Missouri over Alabama and Georgia.

He earned 1st Team All-SEC and 2nd Team All-America in 2023.

Stats

2022: 45 receptions, 375 yards, 6 touchdowns, 18 rushes, 88 yards, 2 touchdowns

2023: 86 receptions, 1,212 yards, 9 touchdowns, 7 rushes, 31 yards

2024 (8 games): 40 receptions, 450 yards, 4 touchdowns, 7 rushes, 105 yards, 2 touchdowns

Scouting Report