A Patriots Fan's Draft Wish List for Day 2: Missouri WR Luther Burden

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Current wide receiver roster: Stefon Diggs, Pop Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Kendrick Bourne, Mack Hollins, JaQuae Jackson, John Jiles, Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker

Positional overview: The mere fact I'm mentioning a potentially high-end prospect like Luther Burden can be taken as me conceding the recent reports that my No. 1 preference Travis Hunter will be off the board before the Patriots are on the clock. It can also be seen as me admitting they've been so bad at drafting this position that they now have no choice but to keep trying. For a good 20 years I was perfectly content to see this team neglect wide receiver in the draft. Or to wait until the later rounds. The bust factor at wideout is too high among all teams, and the Pats were no exception. But it didn't hurt them as much because a good half (or more) their selections came in Round 3 or later. So the failure of say, Josh Boyce, Taylor Price or Malcolm Mitchell (one good season before a career ending injury) didn't cost them. But after so much investment in the last five drafts that produced zero results, they have no choice but to keep chasing good draft capital after bad. They're that guy at the batting cage with a girl he's trying to impress who keeps swinging and missing but has to keep feeding it quarters in desperate hope he stops humiliating himself in front of her. We all saw how hard it was to try and sign a veteran wideout. And there's no guarantee Diggs will be here beyond this year. So they need a long term solution. 

We can hope Polk and Baker will become those solutions, in the words of Vince Lombardi, "Hope is not a strategy." However, drafting this guy is:

Luther Burden, WR, Missouri. 6-foot-0, 206 pounds, 4.41 40-time. 

Now you might be tempted to come at me because despite my good looks, immense charm and galaxy brain insight into the subject matter, I clearly put "Day 2" in the headline while talking about an obvious 1st round talent. I get where you're coming from on all counts. 

But two things about that. One is that I also have the term "Wish List" up there. This isn't a prediction of what will happen, it's wishcasting what I'd like to see happen. 

But two, it's not at all out of the realm. I'm not the world's biggest repeater of Mel Kiper's opinions. But this year he just so happens to project Burden to the Pats at No. 38:

While NFL.com's Chad Reuter has him going one pick earlier, to Las Vegas at 37. I've also seen him projected into the Top 15:

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While Pro Football Focus has him as the third best receiver on the board behind only Hunter and Tetairoa McMillan. So while the pundits are all over the map, on Mock Draft Database's Consensus Big Board, he's projected as the 34th pick. So still theoretically very much within the Patriots reach, assuming again that they can't take Hunter and end up with a left tackle instead. 

So my fantasy of Will Campbell in the 1st and Burden in the 2nd is not only not a pipe dream, it would be something close to the ideal scenario. Two solid, Round 1-caliber talent upgrades at this team's top two areas of need. 

I might be a little gunshy when it comes to putting my trust in yet another receiver in the first two rounds after getting burned repeatedly. But with Burden, there's no questioning that he'll improve the Patriots athleticism the instant he steps through the door. He's your classic multi-sport athlete who had his choice of sports but chose to run routes, catch passes, and run with the ball in his hands. All of which he does well. Above all else, he'd give this team something they've had an almost supermarket egg-like shortage of over the last eight years or so, and that's someone who can separate and beat man coverage. 

Burden just turned 21, but still had 38 career games at Mizzou. By far his best season was 2023, when he was ninth in BCS with over 1,200 yards. Last year that total was nearly cut in half due him being the primary focus of the offense and drawing all the attention. 

As a system fit in New England, Josh McDaniels' scheme has always run through a highly productive slot guy, and that's where Burden has made his bones, with 602 of his 693 passing snaps coming from the inside over the past two years. Put him there opposite Diggs as the X and inside Bourne, Boutte or whomever at Z, and you'll give Drake Maye a target that opponents can't take for granted. If you're old enough, kids, you may remember what that used to feel like. 

I'll have other receivers I'm interested in between now and Draft Day. But if the Pats can somehow pull off the Daily Double of Campbell and then Burden in the first two rounds, it will already be an A+ draft.