Luther Burden III

Luther Burden III (born December 12, 2003) is an American football wide receiver for the Missouri Tigers.

Burden attended East St. Louis Senior High School. He was a star in both basketball and football. He was selected by ESPN as the top offensive recruit in the class of 2022 and the No. 5 overall recruit nationally. 247Sports ranked him as the No. 3 recruit in the nation, and Rivals.com rated him at No. 4.

Burden received 41 total college scholarship offers, eventually narrowing his final options to Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri. In October 2021, he committed to Missouri. He was only the fourth consensus five-star recruit signed by Missouri in the past 20 years, after Dorial Green-Beckham, Terry Beckner Jr. and Blaine Gabbert.

College career

Burden made his collegiate debut on September 1, 2022, catching three passes for 17 yards and had two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. On September 17, he had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown against Abilene Christian. In the 2022 season, he had 45 receptions for 375 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns to go with two rushing touchdowns.

In the 2023 season, Burden led the team with 83 receptions for 1,197 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns prior to the bowl game. He had five consecutive games during the season going over 100 receiving yards.