Who Should I Start? Rashid Shaheed or Luther Burden III

Wednesday, July 30, 11:10 AM

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed is playing through physical coverage in training camp practices so far, according to Jeff Nowak of Audacy Sports. Nowak notes that this has been a clear area of improvement for the fourth-year receiver since he entered the league in 2022. Once known exclusively as a downfield deep-ball threat, Shaheed was showing signs of becoming a more complete receiver in 2024 before tearing his meniscus in Week 6 and missing the remainder of the season. In the six games he played, Shaheed caught 20 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns, averaging an impressive 2.25 yards-per-route-run. The Saints' question marks at quarterback hold down his fantasy value, but Shaheed is an intriguing late-round dart throw who could be on the verge of a breakout in his age-27 season.

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.