Who Should I Start? Quentin Johnston or Luther Burden III

Thursday, July 24, 5:17 PM

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston had five touchdown catches in the first five days of training camp, according to The Athletic's Daniel Popper, and his ball-tracking looked vastly improved on throws down the field over his shoulder. However, Johnston took a step back on Wednesday and dropped a pass that hit him in the chest when he was wide open in the middle of the field. Popper writes that the fact that these type of lapses are still happening for the former first-rounder in his third season is concerning. The confidence that the 23-year-old showed early in camp appears to have dissipated somewhat. Mike Williams retired just before the start of camp, but Ladd McConkey will remain a target hog in L.A, and the Bolts also drafted Tre Harris and Keandre Lambert-Smith. Johnston must prove it to earn substantial playing time in 2025.

Tuesday, July 29, 1:55 PM

Chicago Bears rookie second-round wide receiver Luther Burden III (hamstring) made his return to team drills in training camp practice on Tuesday and was then promptly kicked out of drills by head coach Ben Johnson after a pre-snap alignment/motion issue, according to Adam Hoge of CHGO Sports. "It shows up already. I mean, we were in the walk-through yesterday afternoon and the misalignments - we have to re-huddle, we have to start it all over again. He's a little bit behind right now," Johnson said about the time that Burden has missed in camp. The 21-year-old missed OTAs, minicamp and the start of training camp, so the rookie is definitely behind, and it's showing. There's time for him to get it straightened out before the regular season, but he's off to a bad start as he competes with Olamide Zaccheaus for the WR3 role behind DJ Moore and Rome Odunze.