When five-star St. Louis native Luther Burden withdrew his commitment to Oklahoma in August, he immediately became the focal point of the 2022 recruiting class — not only for Missouri fans, but its coaches. At that point, Eli Drinkwitz said Wednesday, the Tiger staff adopted a new approach to filling out its wide receiver room: Burden or bust.
The staff’s plan had always been to sign three wideouts in the class, and they already had two committed. Instead of extending offers to other prospects, backup plans in the event Burden committed to one of the many perennial powers recruiting him, Drinkwitz, lead St. Louis area recruiter Curtis Luper and wide receivers coach Bush Hamdan decided to go all in on landing the East St. Louis star (with an assist, Drinkwitz revealed Wednesday, from basketball coach Cuonzo Martin.)
“I think we just said we're going to get Luther or bust,” Drinkwitz said Wednesday. “And so when you don't have a lot of options, you kind of got to seal the deal, and coach Luper and coach Hamdan and myself took that personal challenge on. It’s kind of like burning the boats. Like we’re either going to get him or we’re not.”
By now, Missouri fans know how that worked out. Burden, the nation’s No. 1 receiver and No. 5 overall prospect, committed to the Tigers in October. On Wednesday, he signed his National Letter of Intent. He’ll arrive on campus in January as the second-highest rated player to sign with Missouri in the Rivals era.
Drinkwitz hasn’t shied away from touting the addition of Burden. On the night of Burden’s commitment, he took to Twitter to celebrate. Wednesday, he called Burden the “headliner” of Missouri’s class, which currently ranks No. 18 nationally.
But Drinkwitz and Hamdan both made it clear that Burden is not the only incoming wide receiver they’re excited about. Fellow signees Mekhi Miller and Ja’Marion Wayne may not have Burden’s star power, but both were among the first round of prospects targeted by the Tigers in the 2022 class.
Put the trio together, and Drinkwitz said “I think you'd be hard pressed to find three better wide receivers in the country.”
Burden’s numbers speak for themselves. “Touchdown Luther” lived up to his nickname by finding the end zone a whopping 34 times in 14 games during his senior season, despite East St. Louis playing a grueling, national schedule. Burden caught 71 passes for 1,190 yards and 23 touchdowns. He also scored once as a runner and 10 times on punt or kickoff returns.
Burden understands the lofty expectations that await him in Columbia, and he’s not backing down from the challenge. But he’s fine with sharing the spotlight. In fact, he wants good players around him to open up space for him to operate in opposing secondaries.
“I really think it opens the offense up with me being the top guy and me having a couple guys around me who are active,” Burden said. “I think it's great and it will open me up some more. I'm excited.”
If the Missouri staff is to be believed, Miller and Wayne will be more than capable sidekicks. Most recruiting cycles, each likely would have been touted as a steal, and perhaps the top receiver in Missouri’s signing class.
Both Drinkwitz and Hamdan gushed about Wayne’s raw athleticism. Wayne played all over the field for his Parkway West high school team. Drinkwitz noted that he scored points in every possible way short of tackling an offensive player in the end zone for a safety last season: he threw a touchdown, caught six, ran for 12, and found the end zone as a kickoff returner, punt returner and by returning an interception and a fumble.
Of all Missouri’s signees so far, Drinkwitz said Wayne might stand to benefit the most from college strength and nutrition plans. Once he transforms his body, Drinkwitz predicted, Wayne will be “an athletic freak.”
“I just remember putting his film on when I first got here, and I really couldn’t tell what he was,” Hamdan said of Wayne. “He was playing some wildcat quarterback, he was playing some running back, he played receiver, he was a downhill safety. But the one thing that just kept jumping out to me about him was his athleticism.”
Miller doesn’t quite have the versatility of Wayne, but he, too, lined up at multiple spots for his Blue Valley North squad. Miller played slot receiver, out wide and a dash of running back. Miller missed a few games this season due to a rib injury, but in six regular-season contests he caught 49 passes for 644 yards and 10 scores.
Introducing Miller to a crowd of Missouri supporters in Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium Wednesday evening, Hamdan complimented his skillset but talked more about his mindset. Hamdan described Miller as a hard worker and fierce competitor. He saw that for himself after having a “real conversation” with Miller about what it would take to contribute at the next level.
“I said, ‘Listen man, everybody’s talented, but this thing’s going to be all about your mentality, your work ethic, the day to day, how do you handle adversity,’” said Hamdan. “And so I gave him this long talk. And I was kicking it with his dad, G. And G sent me the text about five minutes later and goes, dude, Mekhi just drove straight to the field and he’s getting an extra workout right now.”
Drinkwitz tried to downplay his expectations for Burden Wednesday, saying there’s no pressure on him to “be Randy Moss day one.” But it’s clear that the staff hopes that both Burden and the rest of this class of wideouts will make an impact on the field sooner rather than later.
Several coaches said Missouri’s main objectives in this signing class were adding size on the lines of scrimmage and dynamism at the skill positions, and these three receivers plus four-star running back Tavorus Jones certainly fit the bill. Drinkwitz acknowledged that it’s always easier for players who are used to making plays with the ball to adjust to the college level, and he specifically mentioned Burden and Miller as players who will get a jump on learning the Tiger offense as early enrollees.
As for the signees themselves, they aren’t afraid of carrying lofty expectations with them when they arrive in Columbia.
“Breaking the records,” Wayne said when asked about his goals for the trio. “All of them. All the wide receiver records, we're trying to break. We're gonna put our names in the books.”
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