Dallas Cowboys 2025 draft scouting report: WR Luther Burden III

Here is our scouting report on Luther Burden III from Missouri

We continue our 2025 NFL Draft preview of draft prospects that could interest the Dallas Cowboys. Today we are looking at wide receiver Luther Burden III from Missouri.

Luther Burden III

WR
Missouri Tigers
Junior
5-star recruit
5’11”
208 lbs

Photo by Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images

History

Luther Burden III, born on December 12, 2003, in St. Louis, Missouri, attended East St. Louis Senior High School, where he was a standout in both football and basketball. In his senior year of football, he recorded 71 receptions for 1,174 yards and 20 touchdowns, earning him MaxPreps Player of the Year and a 5-star recruit rating from major scouting services.

He was one of the top prospects in the 2022 recruiting class, drawing attention from several major college football programs before committing to Missouri. He quickly became a key player in the Tigers’ offense and scored eight total touchdowns in his freshman year. He had 45 receptions for 375 receiving yards while also adding 18 rush attempts for 88 yards.

In 2023, Burden had his most productive year as a receiver. He led the team catching 86 passes for 1,212 yards and scoring nine touchdowns. He was named First-team All-SEC for a highly productive season.

In his junior year Missouri had its fair share of struggles, especially on offense, and Burden felt that struggle as he tried to rally the offense. He ended the year with 61 receptions for 676 receiving yards and six receiving touchdown. He also added two rushing touchdowns and 115 rush yards. He was again named First-team All-SEC and declared for the draft.

2024 Statistics

537 Offensive Snaps
80 Targets
61 Receptions
676 Receiving Yards
6 Receiving TDs
373 YAC
30 Missed Tackles
115 Rush Yards
2 Rush TDs
3 Penalties

NFL Combine/Pro Day

TBC

Awards

First-team All-SEC (2024)
First-team All-SEC (2023)

Scorecard

Overall- 88.8
Speed- 90
Acceleration- 96
Agility- 89
Strength- 78
Catching- 92
Route Running- 82
YAC Ability- 96
Blocking- 70
Discipline- 93

THE GOOD:

• Burden shows an explosive first step and change-of-direction ability, making him a significant threat with the ball in his hands.
• Uses his speed and burst to get off the line and into his route stems quickly.
• Exceptional at generating yards after the catch due to his vision, agility, and strength.
• Good hands, especially in contested situations; he has a high catch rate even under pressure and in traffic.
• A tough player to bring down when defenders get to him. He led the NCAA in missed tackles forced among this year’s wide receiver draft class.
• Can line up in various positions of the field, including out of the backfield, which adds unpredictability to an offense.
• Physical and aggressive as a blocker.
• Has punt return experience.

THE BAD:

• While he has shown improvement, his route tree is somewhat limited. This is most notable when lined up as an outside receiver.
• Needs to refine his route running to be more varied and effective against NFL-level defenses.
• His experience against press coverage is limited, having played mostly from the slot. (462 snaps from the slot to 55 snaps out wide in 2024).
• Consistency in his overall play dropped in 2024. Some of that can be written off by Missouri struggling on offense, but Burden looked noticeably different himself.

THE FIT

Expected to be a mid-first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, some analysts rank Burden as a top 15 prospect due to his dynamic playmaking ability. There is no doubt from his 2023 tape that he’s one of the better offensive talents in this year’s draft class with his biggest trait, versatility, being his most intriguing strength.

He does come with questions. His style of play leads to concerns of over usage and becoming burnt out quickly. Thanks to his ability to lineup everywhere and even take snaps in the backfield there’s a general worry that Burden could get overused quickly leading to an early explosion of production early in the season, which then tails off quickly. The other concern is his lack of experience as outside receiver. This leads to his route tree being limited and experience getting off the line against physical defensive backs also short.

Burden is ideally suited for offenses that utilize motion, quick game concepts, and plays designed to get the ball into his hands in space. His versatility could allow him to thrive in both spread and West Coast offenses, as well as teams looking for a Swiss Army knife to stretch defenses laterally. His ability to make plays after the catch, combined with his physical tools, make him an intriguing prospect for Dallas and a fantastic complement to CeeDee Lamb.

COMPARISON

Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers

BTB GRADE

15th

CONSENSUS RANKING

16th
(Consensus ranking based on the average ranking from 90 major scoring services)