30 Most Important Bears of 2024: No. 20 Rome Odunze (2024)

Chicago selected Odunze with the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, and from behind the scenes video, it’s clear he was high on their draft board. Now, Odunze comes to the Bears alongside No. 1 pick, quarterback Caleb Williams. The pair have already developed an off-field connection, and they’ve been quickly developing an on-field chemistry as their futures should hopefully be intertwined for years to come. Odunze comes to a loaded Chicago receivers room with veterans DJ Moore and Keenan Allen on the roster. Together, the three of them comprise one of the NFL’s best receiver trios. Not only should Odunze be heavily involved in the passing game, but he has the benefit of getting to learn from two of the league’s best in Moore and Allen. The Bears might also choose to utilize Odunze outside of just offense. While he didn’t serve as a punt returner on a regular basis during Washington, his playmaking ability with the ball in his hand has special teams coordinator Richard Hightower hinting that Odunze is in contention for the punt returner job.

The Bears have their best wide receiver trio in franchise history with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze. Now, it’s become an unofficial race to 1,000 receiving yards inside the room as all three figure to play significant roles for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams this season. Odunze could wind up being the beneficiary among the three as opposing defenses will have to pick their poison between Moore, Allen and Odunze. Moore and Allen are already established veterans — and figure to be popular targets for Williams — but Odunze has already built a connection with Williams and could wind up being his favorite target. When all is said and done, there’s a lot of mouths to feed and only one football. While Chicago’s top wideouts should all see plenty of targets, the question is how big of an impact will Odunze have in Year 1? Especially considering he should step into a bigger role the following year, assuming Allen isn’t re-signed after this season.