When a team drafts a quarterback and wide receiver in the top 10, it expects a lot out of the pair.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles took Caleb Williams first and Rome Odunze ninth last year.
There were snapshots of their connection last season, and maybe now that the Bears have brought in coach Ben Johnson, it’s about to grow into something real and dependable.
“We still have the mentality to be one of the greatest duos,” Odunze told the Sun-Times. “Being able to have that experience last year and go to the depths of where you don’t want to be in this league — the lack of success motivates us.
“It’s on the up. We’re continuing to grow, continuing to have that hungry mindset and going forward with all the knowledge of going through an NFL season and all those things that can carry over.”
Johnson has made it sound as if little of the coaching those two received last season is going to do them any good now. At least they’ve seen opposing defenses, but Johnson is overhauling everything.
That’s a good thing after Williams and Odunze began their careers under an offensive coordinator — Shane Waldron — who was fired after only nine games.
Williams was widely thought to be a once-every-few-years draft prospect, then finished fourth in his draft class in passer rating and watched Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix go to the playoffs.
While Williams was pretty good by the Bears’ standards, he wasn’t nearly where he expected to be. He completed only 62.5% of his passes and was middle to bottom half of the passing leaderboards in all categories, except for fewest interceptions.
With offensive production suppressed across the board by Waldron’s ineptitude, the offensive line’s fallibility and Williams’ rookie struggles, Odunze caught 54 passes for 734 yards and three touchdowns.
Again, that’s actually fine measured up against the Bears’ history. It was one of the best rookie receiving seasons they’ve ever had. But a bunch of rookie wide receivers, including some drafted after him, had better numbers last season.
The upside for Williams and Odunze is that they established decent floors while playing in a dysfunctional situation and neither was satisfied. They’re hungry for more — a ton more — and eager to receive smarter and harder coaching from Johnson.
“Absolutely,” Odunze said, perhaps thinking of the lack of correction from the staff last season. “You don’t want to be thinking you’re doing something the right way and then not go out there and have success. If you’re doing something the right way, success will come with it.
“Details are something that we harp on a lot, for sure. This offense takes it to a different standard. . . . I’m taking the coaching to heart just knowing this offense has had a lot of success, and I’m just trying to be that weapon within it.”
Johnson believes Odunze can do a lot more than he showed in 2024.
As Johnson evaluated head-coaching openings over the last three years, he waited for one that would set him up to win quickly enough to secure a second contract and avoid the conveyor belt of new coaches getting fired after three or four seasons. He wanted a team with a high-end quarterback, for one, and plenty else in place.
He said when the Bears introduced him that Williams was a big factor in taking the job. He also liked the overall talent, plus, of course, the substantive salary-cap space and draft capital to improve it, and that included Odunze.
“To me, he fits that prototypical X-receiver where you can line him up outside the numbers, and provided he gets a one-on-one with a corner, he’s going to win most of his matchups,” Johnson said this week. “When you have a long guy that can win contested catches and have torque down the field and all that but can still drop his weight and get into and out of routes, that’s really a unique skill set that we’re going to look to capitalize on.”
In short, he’s saying Odunze does so many things well that he’ll be unpredictable for defenses. That plays into Johnson’s guiding principle of “making the same things look different and different things look the same.” His philosophy is all about disguise and versatility, and a receiver with a wide array of moves fits perfectly.
As Odunze and Williams work on their own games, they’re also continuing to invest in their chemistry. That might be the one thing they did get out of their time on the Halas Hall practice fields last season.
Odunze knows the nuances of Williams’ ability to extend plays and has a good sense of where he’s looking down the field when he scrambles out of the pocket. Williams factors in that Odunze has a long stride and tends to go a step deeper on his routes than other receivers. On deep shots and fades, Williams knows where Odunze wants the ball, and Odunze knows he’ll put it there.
Those are the tiniest of baby steps in what the Bears hope will develop into a formidable combination. Johnson is trying to help them make an all-out leap.
