During the offseason, there might have been some Chicago Bears fans scratching their heads after the team signed defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo to a three-year, $48 million contract. Bears general manager Ryan Poles might not look as silly anymore with Odeyingbo's play in training camp.
CHGO's Greg Braggs Jr. shared his Thursday Bears training camp updates on social media as he praised Odeyingbo's play on the field. On back-to-back plays, Odeyingbo beat left tackle Braxton Jones off the edge to get in the backfield.
Dayo Odeyingbo just had back to back plays with some impressive burst at the snap.
— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr23) August 7, 2025
Beat Braxton Jones on both reps.
Marquee Sports Network's Nicholas Moreano shared the same commentary as Odeyingbo beat Jones on the very first play of the team period. That resulted in quarterback Caleb Williams hitting running back D'Andre Swift for a big gain on the play.
Braxton Jones starts off the team period at left tackle. First play, looked like Dayo Odeyingbo got around the corner vs. Jones.
— Nicholas Moreano (@NicholasMoreano) August 7, 2025
Caleb Williams completed the pass to D'Andre Swift for a big gain on the left side.
Odeyingbo is starting to come together and look like a great signing for Poles
People might see this and think that too much is being made of Odeyingbo's good day at practice, since they weren't in pads, and it's only been about two and a half weeks of camp. This is showing good signs that he might end up being a great player for the Bears.
Many questioned why Odeyingbo was signed to a big contract, given that his best season in four years with the Indianapolis Colts was eight sacks in 2023. Outside of that year, he has had a half sack in his rookie season in 2021, five in 2022, and three last year.
Odeyingbo is showing off his burst of speed and what he can do to get to the quarterback. The sack numbers might not be there, but he has had 17 quarterback hits in each of the last two seasons. He knows how to create pressure and disrupt passing plays.
The Bears needed a perfect complementary piece for Montez Sweat, who went through his own struggles last year with just 5.5 sacks. Odeyingbo is either going to be able to attract attention away from Sweat to get more 1-on-1 matchups or be able to break through himself to pressure the quarterback with Sweat double-teamed.
Read more: Caleb Williams responds to viral video while creating new highlight at Bears camp
Fans are okay with looking at the small things in training camp and getting excited for what's to come. Odeyingbo beat a pretty good offensive lineman two consecutive times. That's not easy to do against an NFL lineman. This can be read into more as Odeyingbo has the potential to be great in 2025.