Bears might actually stick with this plan for Rome Odunze

When the Chicago Bears were lucky enough to select Rome Odunze with the no. 9 overall pick in this year's draft, it was abundantly clear that Ryan Pace was doing everything he could to add as much talent around Caleb Williams as possible.

Odunze joined a star-studded receiver group with D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen, giving Williams a top-tier trio to have at his disposal. So far during training camp, Williams has connected with all three of them on several occasions.

But, the plan for Odunze, as a rookie at least, doesn't look like it's going to be solely on offense.

In addition to being a cornerstone on offense, it does appear as though Odunze could become a staple on special teams. So far during practices, the Bears have used quite a few players returning punts. But, during team drills lately, Odunze has been the guy.

Returning punts is a relatively new venture for Rome Odunze

In college, Odunze only totaled three punt returns for Washington, with two of them coming in his final season. But, on one of them, he did have a chance to do this:

The Bears have lacked a special quality in the return game for a couple of years now. Since Cordarrelle Patterson left, kick return has been less than spectacular. Chicago hasn't had a decent punt returner since, maybe, Tarik Cohen?

It's been a while since there's been anything "special" about the Bears' special teams, specifically on punt returns. Odunze has the opportunity to give Chicago a boost, here, and might even be worth plugging in on kick return duties as well.

For the time being, it appears as though Velus Jones Jr. and Deandre Carter are the two primary candidates for the kick return gig, but with the new kickoff rules in place, it wouldn't hurt to see what Odunze could do back there as well.

There's no doubt Odunze is going to be a big part of the offense in the coming years, and who knows, maybe even as a rookie. But, he'll have a shot to contribute in a major way on special teams, if camp has been any indication thus far.