NFL Draft Rumors: Luther Burden III gets more bad news on his stock

Luther Burden III of Missouri is one of the best receiver prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft, which has a weaker wide receiver class. Many scouts and analysts expect the 6-foot-205-pound wide receiver to be a top-five pick in the NFL, with some ranking him as the third-best receiver in the draft.

With the draft only a month away, Burden's draft stock has been sinking owing to various "off the field" troubles and a productivity drop.

According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, the analyst predicted Burden III to drop to the second round of the draft. Breer wrote:

"Zeek, I’ll go with three. I think Texas’s Matthew Golden and Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan are locks. I’d say I’m maybe 70/30 that Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka is in the first round—how he runs in Columbus at the Buckeyes’ pro day on Wednesday could solidify that.

"And after those three, Missouri’s Luther Burden III, Ole Miss’s Tre Harris and Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins are probably next up, but I wouldn’t say it’s likely any of them go first round."

Breer added that Burden is an interesting prospect due to his "off-field" questions and thinks receivers could be taken in the second round due to the team's need for offensive tackles.

Bob McGinn spilled the beans on Luther Burden's off-the-field issues

Luther Burden during NFL: FEB 28 Scouting Combine - Source: Getty

Some of the off-the-field concerns about Luther Burden III have been spilled. Sportswriter Bob McGinn, out of the Milwaukee sports area, wrote a piece on some of the things he's heard from scouts, general managers, etc. McGinn wrote:

"He's a 5-star, they kiss his a** for three years just to keep him there. The girlfirend is his manager. The mom is a problem. But he's a good player on Saturday and he's very ordinary Monday through Friday. That's an area he's really going to have to improve."

Not much else was written about why his mother and girlfriend are problematic, but McGinn has suggested so.

In his three years at Missouri, Burden has caught over 190 receptions for over 2,100 yards and has scored 25 total touchdowns in his college career.

When do you think Burden will be drafted?