As the debate over the 2026 regular-season schedule continues, it will be the players on the field who determine the reality. For second-year head coach Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears, that figures to mean heavy doses of second-year players Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III.
The Bears’ first two picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, both players figure to be even bigger factors heading into the 2026 season than they were to end their rookie campaign.
However, while Burden is in for a larger role, and Loveland could still be more productive, Rome Odunze looms large.
Bears’ Coltson Loveland, Luther Burden III Draw Attention Over DJ Moore Trade
Bears Expected to Lean on Colston Loveland & Luther Burden III Even More
ESPN’s Benjamin Solak put the Bears’ young playmakers under the microscope, putting Burden and Loveland on his eight-point list of players facing “big questions” entering their second seasons in the NFL.
The questions specifically asked what the two can do following the Bears’ offseason trade sending DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills.
Moore was second on the team in catches and yards and tied for the lead in touchdown grabs.
“Burden has special physical traits, but he has room to grow on the technical side of the game,” Solak wrote on May 15. “This is important because Burden will not be a part-time player this season. The Bears traded Moore to Buffalo this spring, and Burden is the clear heir apparent to Moore’s 1,104 snaps from 2025. But with an expanded role comes more formations, more alignments and more audibles.
“I’m not sure he’ll truly become the primary target, however, not as long as Loveland is still suiting up on Sundays. Loveland was impossibly dominant across the final games of his rookie year.”
Solak noted that part of the story for Burden–who the Bears selected 62nd overall and who had 47 receptions, 652 yards, and 2 touchdowns–was Odunze’s foot injury, which cost him five games.
That same logic could apply to Loveland, whom the Bears selected 10th overall.
Loveland led the team in receptions and yards and shared the tied for the team lead in TD catches. He also posted a 27-307-3 line over the final five games of the regular season, all of which Odunze missed.
Rome Odunze Looms Large for Bears’ Offense
Odunze’s own strong start to the 2025 season has seemingly been lost in the shuffle after he was Caleb Williams’ clear top target to begin the campaign.
Odunze, Williams’ draft mate and the ninth overall pick in 2024, finished the season with a 44-661-6 line.
However, he posted 31 grabs, 473 yards, and 5 touchdowns over the first seven weeks of the season before an ankle injury cost him practice time. He went without a catch on three targets in Week 9 and posted a 13-188-1 line over his final four regular-season games.
Odunze had four catches for 88 scoreless yards during his first two games back, which came in the postseason.
Odunze could be as much of a limiting factor for Burden and Loveland as the Moore trade or anything else. The fact that any of the three could reasonably be expected to lead the team in any one of the major metrics this season speaks volumes.
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