LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze had not caught a touchdown in weeks, and his rookie season was coming to a close. This was not what the No. 9 overall selection in the 2024 draft had envisioned.
He had gone from a Washington team whose only loss in 2023 was in the CFP National Championship Game to a Bears team that lost 10 straight en route to a 5-12 finish.
“I always feel like I’m in it for the long run,” Odunze told ESPN. “I realized my first year, regardless of if I was a rookie, All-Pro or I was portrayed as a bust, I’m going to keep my head high and steady through it.”
As a rookie, Odunze finished third on the Bears in targets (101), receptions (54), receiving yards (734) and touchdowns in a crowded receivers room. When the Bears let Keenan Allen walk in free agency, a seismic shift was beginning. It was one that DJ Moore saw coming for months.
“We were the alphas (in the receivers room), but you could tell he was like Simba,” Moore said. “He was ready to roar.”
By the end of a grueling 2025 offseason while learning a new offense under first-year coach Ben Johnson, Odunze emerged as the No. 1 receiver the Bears had envisioned when they paired him with quarterback Caleb Williams, taken No. 1 last year.
“I’ve been saying he’s a walking 1,000-yard receiver in any offense,” safety Kevin Byard III said.
Odunze is in the midst of a breakout season. He leads the Bears in targets (46), receptions (24), yards (359) and touchdowns (5). His average target depth (13.76 yards) ranks seventh among all wide receivers. He’s tied with five other players for the second-most receiving TDs (5).
“He’s a pro,” Johnson said. “He’s started off hot here. Hopefully that’ll continue to go.
“I know he’s just a guy that’s committed to winning right now, and whatever it takes for us as an offense to score points and as a team to win ballgames. I see him as a leader here on this team.”
DURING PRACTICES AT Halas Hall, all 60-some players who comprise the active roster and practice squad are positioned in four lines that span the width of the field during stretching. With the quarterbacks front and center in the first line, Odunze is two or three to the left of the QBs.At the end of the first line opposite of Odunze is receiver Jahdae Walker, the only undrafted rookie on the roster.
Every time the whistle is blown, Odunze sprints at full speed to beat out Walker to be the first to the group of receivers. The daily occurrence has become a game between teammates that sets the tone for practice.
“He matches my energy level,” Walker said. “I like that about him. He’s just a really good leader for our room.”
Becoming the leader meant learning how to deal with frustrations early in his career. Odunze’s best game as a rookie came in Week 3, a 21-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts when Williams targeted him 11 times. Odunze finished with six catches for 112 yards and his first NFL touchdown, a ball he said he split with Williams as it also marked the quarterback’s first TD pass.
But as the Bears offense struggled to find direction under two playcallers last year, Odunze’s production tapered off. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound receiver finished with fewer than 42 receiving yards in 13 games, a far cry from the type of production he put up during Washington’s national championship run when he led all FBS receivers in receiving and finished top 10 the season before that.
Odunze internalized his on-field struggles last year and kept a positive outlook. His father, James, however, took to social media on more than one occasion to express his own frustrations, once correcting an account that claimed Odunze would have “1,110 yards on any other NFC North team.”
James Odunze believed the number was too low and quote tweeted “1,500.”
Rome Odunze backed his father for standing up for him, but he made clear it was “not from a disbelief in this team or a disbelief in anybody in this organization.”
But beneath the surface, Odunze said that some of his frustrations mirrored his father’s.
“In some ways,” the player said. “But honestly, I just wanted to have the success of the team. I always feel like I can contribute and be a part of a big role for the success of the team that I’m on. So, I’m going to continue to hold that mindset.
“And obviously, last year that was kind of minimized at certain points, but I don’t think that was necessarily because of anybody in the room or necessarily anything that was directly in that fashion. But that’s kind of just how it works out sometimes, especially when you have so many great guys in the room and we’re all putting it together. It obviously caused a little bit of frustration, but I’m always kind of steady and working towards my goals.”
ODUNZE SMILES WHEN he thinks back to the events that led up to being drafted.
Days before he heard NFL commissioner Roger Goodell say his name, Odunze was invited to work out with Williams in Southern California. It was their first time meeting in a throwing session that also included Allen and Moore.
He still can’t comprehend how all the stars seemed to align to make Chicago his NFL destination. The first jersey he owned as a kid was Brian Urlacher’s No. 54. His favorite player growing up was Devin Hester.
“I call it God, but I think there’s something out there looking out for us,” Odunze said.
Odunze began his second NFL season by scoring a touchdown in four straight games. That number would have extended to five had it not been for an illegal formation penalty that nullified Odunze’s third-quarter touchdown against the Washington Commanders.
Odunze’s production has been quieter than he hoped for the last two weeks. He caught two passes for 32 yards on five targets in Washington and had two receptions for 31 yards against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Odunze had six targets in the first half against the Saints but none in the second half.
There were three plays inside the two-minute warning in the first half against New Orleans when Williams entered scramble mode and failed to connect with Odunze. Johnson believed Odunze could have caught “one or two of them” and that Williams needed to have better ball placement on the other.
Despite a dip in production in Chicago’s last two games, Johnson believes Odunze will soon find his stride.
“I think as an offense it comes in waves,” Johnson said. “Some guys are going to get hot and some guys are going to step out of the spotlight for a little bit. I think that’s the nature of having so many good players, Rome certainly being a part of that.
“So there will be a time where this thing comes around again and he gets hot all of a sudden and he’ll end up having 10 targets in a game and eight or nine catches and a couple touchdowns and we’ll be feeling good about life.”
Williams has used the word “belief” frequently when describing his connection with Odunze. Williams believed Odunze would come out of his break and win his route on a 27-yard touchdown reception against the Raiders in Week 4 — a moment the receiver referred to as “the dagger”.
There was also the quarterback’s belief that he and his top receiver could adjust on the fly. Odunze saw Dallas cornerback Trevon Diggs slipping in coverage early in a Week 3 rout of the Cowboys and threw his hand up to alert Williams that he was open. The result was a 35-yard touchdown.
“We were on the same page,” Williams said of Odunze’s touchdown against Dallas. “Just get him the ball and let him go score.”
Even while Odunze has leveled off a bit, the Bears have fought their way to four consecutive wins. It hasn’t always been pretty for the team or the receiver, but the big picture is encouraging.
“There’s a lot of plays out there that I want to have back, and I want more than I already have,” Odunze said. “There’s been some very — I don’t want to say ‘gimme’ — but more fortunate plays that I’ve been able to have.
“I want to be able to have those plays where I wasn’t supposed to score there, but I scored. I wasn’t supposed to make that catch, but I made that catch. I’ll be happy with those.”
