LutherBurden III

News: 10 hours agoBurden and Olamide Zaccheaus are candidates to take on more snaps and targets in the absence of Rome Odunze (foot) this Sunday at Green Bay, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com reports.

Spin: It's a tough matchup, on the road in cold weather, but Odunze's absence opens up a lot of playing time and targets for some talented players in ancillary roles. Burden is among those, having recently replaced Zaccheaus as the No. 3 receiver, but the Bears also may lean more heavily on any of WR DJ Moore, RB D'Andre Swift, TE Colston Loveland or TE Cole Kmet to take on larger receiving roles in Odunze's absence.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Burden was selected by Chicago in the second round of April's draft. He is a bit undersized (his 8.5-inch hands tied for smallest in this class), but he's very young (21) and was highly relied upon and productive during three seasons at Missouri. He's fast with terrific playmaking ability and can align all over the formation. Burden is set to replace Keenan Allen as Chicago's slot man, but there are a lot of mouths to feed in an offense that also includes DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland. Consistent Year 1 fantasy production is unlikely, so Burden is only worth a late flier.