ARLINGTON, Tex. 一 On Tuesday, during Missouri’s offensive Media Day, members of the media surrounded quarterback Brady Cook and peppered him with questions about everything from Kirby Moore’s contract extension to Cook's development in the offense to his No. 1 receiver, who had walked into the room midway through his presser.
Slowly but surely media members began to make their way over to Luther Burden, who was wearing a gray beanie, some orangeish-looking sunglasses, a black jacket, white shirt, some sweats and some slides. An outfit that matched his under-the-radar, chill demeanor but was the opposite of his play on the field.
Like the media, when No. 3 is in the room or on the field, people take notice. And after racking up 83 receptions for 1,197 yards and eight touchdowns on his way to an All-SEC first-team selection and AP second-team All-American honors, Burden has all of Ohio State’s attention.
From Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to players who likely won’t be lining up against Burden like defensive lineman Jack Sawyer, everyone wants to be aware of where Burden is at all times.
“Absolutely. He’s everywhere,” Knowles said. “He’s as talented a guy as we have faced. He’s a guy 一 you better know where he is at all times. And he’s in so many different places, so it makes it challenging.”
Knowles is right. He is everywhere. Burden switched from an outside receiver last year to the slot and has 485 snaps there, but he managed to get 85 snaps out wide, 12 snaps as an inline receiver and 10 in the backfield.
Finding Burden is one of the problems he presents to Ohio State’s defense but the common theme around him on Tuesday is what he can do after the catch. Burden finished second in the nation in yards after the catch with 711, almost 60% of his total yardage.
“I think when you’ve got a receiver who is really good after the catch, you’ve just got to be ready for them to throw quick screens and quick bubbles and be able to react to that,” Sawyer said. ”Retrace and get down a line quickly and try to tackle him before he gets to the second level. I think that's really the big thing when you're facing a receiver like that, especially coming out of the slot.”
Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers said bringing down the All-American will be a task that all 11 players on the field will have to take part in, not just the secondary.
"Once he gets the ball in his hands he does a lot with it," Chambers said. "Sometimes you’ve just got to stop him from getting the ball in his hands. You just got to have guys around him. I mean, sometimes he can break a tackle. You’ve just got to have guys always in pursuit of the ball.
"There are 11 guys on the field so it’s going to take 11 guys to stop him.”
Burden’s ability after the catch isn’t something new, but it is an ability that has been greatly improved from his freshman campaign a year ago. Last year, 303 of Burden’s 345 receiving yards were after the catch.
For months, head coach Eli Drinkwitz and others have said a change in diet and attacking the weight room are big reasons for a boon in the superstar sophomore’s play but it’s not just his play that has progressed.
He’s started to become a little more vocal and assumed more of a leadership role than he did his freshman year.
“I think he's just he's come out of his shell a little bit. Actually, a lot a bit,” Cook said jokingly. “He's acting more like a leader out there. He's communicating. I can see the confidence in the way he runs his routes, pre-snap the way he lines up. You know, he knows he belongs and he’s doing what he does.”
"I thought this whole season, he's made some huge strides taking the next step within his game," Moore said. "Really his approach off the field, taking care of his body from a mental standpoint. He's playing fast and we all know his abilities. So, he's done a great job this whole season.”
For Burden, he doesn’t know exactly when he took the leadership role upon himself. It just happened. He believes his comfortability around his teammates is what has got him to open up a little more and that’s how the natural transition of the star player being one of the team leaders happened.
“I guess it kind of like just grew on me," Burden said. "Being around the guys and just feeling comfortable for them to let me lead them. So, I mean, I had to earn the trust and I had to put in the work to show them that I can be a good leader for this team.”
For much of the season, the face of the offense has seemingly been split among three players this year, Cook, Heisman finalist Cody Schrader and Burden.
In the second half of the season, Schrader seemed to have taken over that role completely. Not just because of his play, but the leadership abilities he's shown since he arrived in 2022 and his one-of-a-kind story.
But with Schrader's last collegiate game on Friday and Burden's ascension as a locker room leader and as a superstar, it seems like "Touchdown Luther" is primed to take over the role of face of the franchise.
Friday night's primetime showdown is a huge opportunity for Missouri's program. It could also serve as a springboard for a bona fide 2024 Heisman campaign for the blue-chip face of the Tigers' revival. LB3 has been well-known around college football for years. In the last four months, he's become a legitimate superstar. Friday is the first step in what comes next.
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