Chicago Bears Film Review: Rome Odunze has massive upside heading into Year 2

Nobody knows exactly what Ben Johnson's offense will look like in Chicago.  

The now first-year head coach helped establish the Detroit Lions as an offense that consistently created explosive and creative plays over the past three seasons when he was the signal caller. Now that offensive mind is in Chicago, and the hope is that the Bears’ head coach can revolutionize his team to progress in a similar direction. 

No one benefits more with the addition of Johnson than second-year quarterback Caleb Williams, but wide receiver Rome Odunze is a close second. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft caught 54 passes for 734 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season. 

And that was in an offense that had plenty of issues. 

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound wide receiver exceeded 100 yards receiving in Week 3 against the Colts and Week 9 against the Cardinals. In 13 games, he was held under 50 receiving yards. His rookie season left plenty to look forward to, especially now that Johnson will be scheming up plays for the talented playmaker.

To gain a better understanding of how Odunze was utilized last season, I rewatched three of his games, totaling 181 reps, from Weeks 11-13 against the NFC North: vs. Green Bay, vs. Minnesota and at Detroit. 

Here are my top takeaways from Odunze's rookie season. 

Route Running 

Smooth is how I would describe Odunze as a route runner. Despite being a bigger receiver, he shows disciplined body control and can change direction when asked to run deeper developing routes. 

In the Thanksgiving loss to the Lions, Odunze showed off the route tree, including a double move against Terrion Arnold on a vertical route that would have resulted in an explosive touchdown if Odunze was targeted on the play. Instead, Williams connected with Keenan Allen for a 31-yard strike. Odunze's double move did impact the boundary safety, forcing him to play up, and that put the Lions’ defender out of position and opened up Allen for the touchdown. 

Later in the game, Odunze lined up again against Arnold, but this time in a third-and-6 situation. Arnold had outside leverage against Odunze, but the Bears’ wide receiver worked up field and used a quick head fake outside that opened up the defensive back's hips, which gave Odunze enough room to get inside and win the rep for a first down. 

That was Odunze at his best, but he did have some reps when the routes looked off. Against Minnesota, he had two reps where he jumped at the top of his route, and the Vikings’ defensive back simply hit Odunze with his hands to throw off the timing. 

If cornerbacks got their hands on Odunze, it disrupted the timing of the route. Odunze highlighted in his last press conference that he wanted to add more lean muscle to combat hand-fighting. A stronger Odunze will help the young wide receiver fight through physical contact at the line of scrimmage, and that should allow him to create even more plays this upcoming season. 

Decoy 

In the three games against the NFC North, it was clear Odunze wasn't the primary target on a majority of the plays. Against Green Bay, he did have a team-high 10 targets, but the game started with him clearing out space to open up his teammates. And that happened a lot in the three-game span. 

Now, it's not uncommon for players to help out their teammates to get open, especially if they're not the primary target on a play. However, with Thomas Brown's offense, that happened fairly often. 

Against Detroit, Odunze lined up just inside the left numbers and Cole Kmet was initially outside of the numbers. Presnap, Kmet motioned inside of Odunze, and Kmet's man then lined up in front of the Bears’ wide receiver. Odunze took an outside release and ran vertical to take his defender with him, and the safety lined up opposite Kmet stalled to cover the Bears’ tight end. Kmet ran an out route towards the left sideline and made the reception for a five-yard gain to pick up the first down. 

Every NFL team runs some kind of version of this route concept, but there weren't many opportunities that had the other Bears’ playmakers opening up plays for Odunze. That should change with Johnson now calling the plays. 

If Johnson stays true to his word and rewards players who execute throughout the week in practice, then Odunze will get more designed plays with him as the No. 1 target. That will be a welcome addition for Chicago's offense. 

Run Blocker 

Odunze showed plenty of effort as a run blocker from weeks 11-13. He also earned himself a pancake in what was his best block of his rookie season against the Packers. Odunze lined up in the backfield left of Williams and became a lead blocker for DJ Moore. Odunze located cornerback Carrington Valentine and drove him to the sideline and to the ground. 

Odunze had another rep against Green Bay when he helped Kmet block defensive end Lukas Van Ness, and the rookie receiver finished the play by pushing Van Ness to the ground. Odunze showed no hesitation when asked to block for his teammates. 

There were also reps when Williams escaped the pocket and ran towards the sideline where Odunzed was lined up at, and the receiver sustained his block for the entirety of the play. 

Now, Odunze wasn't perfect. Against the Lions, Odunze recorded a 31 run blocking grade, according to Pro Football Focus. That was his lowest of the entire season. A lot of the plays when Odunze failed as a blocker were on quick screens. When assessing those types of plays, Odunze appeared slow off the snap and was unable to block the designated defender. 

On this play against the Packers, Odunze ran too far upfield and didn't account for the Packers’ defensive back to react quickly to the screen pass. 

The issues Odunze showed can easily be corrected with proper coaching and Odunze's understanding of proper angles as a perimeter blocker. 

Contested Catches

Oduzne finished as one of the best receivers in the NFL last season in contested catch scenarios. He finished with a 72.2% contested catch percentage, which ranked third among wide receivers with at least 10 contested targets, according to Pro Football Focus. 

Against the Packers on fourth-and-3, Odunze lined up against cornerback Keisean Nixon with the Bears trailing 20-19 with 1:33 remaining in the game. Odunze ran a vertical route and Williams threw a back-shoulder pass to convert the chains on the 21-yard gain. That play helped set the Bears up to attempt a game-winning field goal, which was blocked. 

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A week later against the Vikings, Odunze again came up clutch on fourth down. The Bears trailed 27-16 in the fourth quarter and faced a fourth-and-three. Odunze lined up in the slot out of trips and did a great job of getting inside leverage on the Vikings’ defensive back. Allen and Moore were both doubled on the play, so Williams went from looking left to the right side and fired a ball over the middle to Odunze. Minnesota's safety was in a perfect position to make a play, but Odunze showed perfect concentration and strong hands on the 14-yard reception.

Odunze has the skillset, work ethic and now the head coach to help take his game to an entirely new level in Year 2. His rookie season should only be a fraction of what is to come for the talented wide receiver.