When he was the Lions’ receivers coach a year ago, Antwaan Randle El considered Rome Odunze — and not Marvin Harrison or Malik Nabers — to be the best wideout in the 2024 draft. He called Odunze’s receivers coach at Washington before the draft and asked, half-serious, if there was any chance his college pupil would fall to the Lions.
Odunze didn’t, in part because the Bears felt the same way about him. They drafted him ninth overall.
A year later, Randle El followed head coach Ben Johnson to Chicago.
“It didn’t work out in Detroit,” Randle El said, “but I’m glad that he’s here.”
The Bears are glad Randle El is, too. After helping to mentor Amon-Ra St. Brown to a top-five receiving season in each of the last two seasons, he’s turned his attention to Odunze and the rest of the Bears’ receiving room.
“The thing about Rome is, he has huge upside,” Randle El said in April. “I’ve gotta be able to nourish that so he can grow as a player.”
If Odunze is going to become the star receiver the Bears believe he can be, now is the year to show it. He’s not a rookie anymore, and neither is his quarterback. The Bears traded in coordinator Shane Waldron for Johnson, the play-calling head coach who was the most popular name on the offseason coaching carousel.
“This is an explosive offense,” Odunze said Thursday. “I think Ben and the crew have great offensive minds. So I feel like they can help put me in positions to succeed. That’s all I can ask for. … I have to go out there and make the plays and get the job done regardless. …
“We both have to come together to make that happen. But I feel like it’s brewing.”
Odunze was targeted 101 times last year, tied for the 63rd-most ever by a rookie wide receiver. Among those rookies, though, he finished 116th in both receiving success rate — which measures whether players can gain 40% of the yards to go on first down, 60% on second or 100% on third or fourth — and receiving yards per game. He was 118th in yards gained per target. Odunze’s 43.2 receiving yards per game ranked 58th among all wide receivers in the NFL last year.
Odunze’s inconsistency came in part because of the struggles of quarterback Caleb Williams and an offense so broken it had three coordinators during the course of the 5-12 season.
“The hardest part? Losing,” Odunze said. “Losing sucks.”
Odunze spent the offseason adding muscle mass in his upper body. He wants to be able to better win the line-of-scrimmage hand-fighting against press coverage and swat away defenders when they try to grab him down the field.
“Rome’s taken a step this year — I can already tell,” receiver DJ Moore said.
Increased strength will help him be more physical on 50-50 balls, too. The Bears need he and Williams to be better on those deep shots. Only 11 receivers were targeted more often on passes of 20 yards or more than Odunze’s 24 last season. He caught only four of those passes, less than one-quarter of the league leader, George Pickens.
Odunze didn’t have time to be so hyper-focused last offseason, when he trained for the NFL Scouting Combine, interviewed with teams before the draft and then had to quickly learn how to be a pro. In his first NFL season, he learned what he didn’t know.
“It’s a different game than college football,”: Odunze said. “There’s different windows, different ways to get open and there’s kind of a different pace that you’ve kind of got to get adapted to. And having a full season under my belt, I feel like I’m aware of those things and I can now play the game freely in a way, knowing exactly where I need to be when I need to be there.
“I just need to cater it to this offense and quarterback and chemistry within there.”
Williams was more in sync with Odunze than any other receiver last year. That seems to be the case this offseason, too.
“[Williams] has continued to grow, from what I’ve seen, and made strides and continued to pour into his profession and his craft,” Odunze said. “And from my perspective, that’s all that matters.”
Odunze’s goals for this season are double-digit touchdowns and at least 1,000 receiving yards — but, more importantly, to win. The Bears won’t have one without the other.
“I think when you’re doing the right things and you’re having success, and the team is having success, all the statistics and those numbers will come,” he said.
Johnson likes his chances.
“To be a second-year guy, you would expect a little bit more inconsistency,” he said. “And yet the way he approaches the meeting room, the walk-through, the drill work, it’s very much like a seasoned pro. Some of the best that I’ve been around. And he’s still learning.”
