I decided to expand on my Evan Stewart Devy Profile piece and do a comparison article on the three WRs in this 2025 class who appear to be vying for that WR1 spot in Devy. These three players are Luther Burden, Evan Stewart, and Barion Brown. First, let me give a brief overview of each prospect profile coming out of high school.
Luther Burden
Burden was the #1 ranked WR in the nation for the 2022 class coming out of high school and the #5 prospect overall, according to ESPN. Burden graduated from East St. Louis High School in Illinois. He is listed at 5 ’11”, 208 lbs. on Missouri’s website, but was listed at 6′ 1″, 195 lbs. on ESPN’s recruiting database, so his measurables are a bit ambiguous. Burden boasted some gaudy numbers as a senior in high school, compiling 71 receptions, 1,174 yards, and 20 TDs on the year. In addition, Burden tacked on one rushing TD and eight TDs as the punt-return specialist. He put up some truly electric numbers all around.
Luther Burden (@lutherburden3) was a problem in his final high school season 😳
What will his stat line be year 1 at Missouri? @MizzouFootball pic.twitter.com/6GhbISj4SR
— The Underclassman Report (@TheUCReport) June 9, 2022
Evan Stewart
As mentioned in my prior article, Stewart was the #2 WR prospect behind Burden coming out of high school, playing for Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas. He has a thinner frame, at 6′ 0″, 175 lbs., according to Texas A&M. Stewart elected to end his senior campaign after just three games to protect his body and prepare for SEC competition. In those three games, he was quite impressive, totaling 22 catches, 487 yards, and three TDs.
Barion Brown
Brown has a similar build to Stewart, listed at 6′ 1″ and an even thinner 166 lbs. for Kentucky. Brown was not as highly touted coming out of high school, ranked as the WR22 in this class, and a 4-star recruit on ESPN. Brown played for Pearl-Cohn High School in Tennessee and was used as a utility player of sorts, playing QB, RB, WR, DB, and kick returner as a senior. He finished with 897 rush yards, 22 receptions, 303 receiving yards, and 13 total TDs in his final year. He also contributed with 24 tackles, including two for loss.
Freshman Year Comparison
With Year 1 of their collegiate career under their belts, let’s look at some receiving numbers per game for these three prospects. I’ve color-coded each statistic to convey where these players finished between the three in each category (green being first, yellow being second, and red being third).
The chart shows that Evan Stewart had the best freshman showing of these three athletes. He played in just ten games, so his total numbers don’t reflect this, but from a per-game basis, Stewart showed us why we should be excited about him. He had over ten targets per game for nearly a 30% target share as a freshman in the SEC.
Regarding Year 1 expectations, Barion Brown turned some heads. He wasn’t a 5-star recruit like the other two but still put up a 23.8% target share while leading his team in receptions and receiving yards. I don’t think many Devy players expected this kind of production from Brown right out the gate; he set the school record for receptions and receiving yards as a freshman. It remains to be seen whether Brown can improve on this efficiency now that QB Will Levis is in the NFL.
As a freshman, Barion Brown set the Kentucky freshman record for receiving yards (628) and receptions (50).
He’s just getting started. Year 2 loading… 🔵⚪️ #BBN
IG/Barion Brown pic.twitter.com/bLnFWHSjUr
— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) August 21, 2023
While Burden’s freshman totals are nothing to scoff at, he did have the most disappointing season of the three, considering his lofty expectations. He finished with six TD receptions on the year, but we know this to be one of the least sticky metrics regarding future fantasy production. Still, with former teammate Dominic Lovett (56 receptions in 2022) transferring to Georgia and Barrett Banister (44 receptions in 2022) graduating, I expect Burden to make a massive Sophomore leap and become a target hog for the Tigers in 2023.
Devy/Dynasty Value
For my Devy WR rankings in this 2025 class, I give Evan Stewart a slight edge over Luther Burden as my WR1. He posted some insane target share and per-game numbers as a freshman, suggesting he could have real league-winning production for your Dynasty team in a few years.
Luther Burden is my WR2 here, but I view him as nearly interchangeable with Stewart. The only other real target earners from this 2022 Missouri team will no longer be on the roster in 2023, and I believe Burden can easily post a 30%+ target share as a sophomore. On top of this, he’s had a full year of reps with his starting QB, Brady Cook. Stewart has only played a few games with expected starter Conner Weigman, and Brown will be catching passes from someone completely new in 2023 (likely Devin Leary, NC State transfer).
Brown is my WR3, as I feel he has the most unknowns entering Year 2, and he’s the smallest in stature. Still, it’s not out of the question that Barion could leap-frog these two in my rankings as a sophomore. He was the clear WR1 for Levis as a freshman and should be going no later than the late-third round in Devy startups.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
