By the Numbers, Odunze Had to Come Back for Another UW Season
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Rome Odunze had every reason to return to the University of Washington football team for the 2023 season and not enter the NFL draft.
The now junior wide receiver could vastly improve his projected draft status, which apparently wasn't high enough this time, meaning not yet in the first round, or he would have gone. He certainly gave it a lot of thought.
As the last holdout for these draft-eligible Huskies, he won't miss out on what's shaping up to be a serious run for excellence in 2023 coming out of an 11-2 season, such as landing in a bigger bowl game and maybe, just maybe, entering a playoff run.
Also, Odunze can hang out one more time with UW players he came in with four years ago, forged permanent bonds and likely will go out together with a lot of them, say someone such as fellow pass-catcher Jalen McMillan.
Far less important, but still something to shoot for, is for the 6-foot-3, 201-pound Odunze to totally satisfy the statistical goals that he and his receiver teammates laid out for themselves entering this past season — which was double their pre-Ryan Grubb offense stats.
They each wanted to come up with twice as many catches, yards and touchdowns for this new coaching staff
After catching 41 passes for 415 yards and 4 scores in 2021 for departed offensive coordinator John Donovan and his struggling attack, Odunze's target numbers were 82, 830 and 8 his first time around with the new Husky offense.
Well, he nearly tripled the yardage with a generous 1,145 total, but he fell just shy of the receptions with 75 and the touchdowns with 7, which really was nothing to be disappointed about.
With everyone working once more with prolific quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Odunze has a host of productive teammates surrounding him, so there's realistically only so many balls that can come his way.
Setting reasonable numbers that would cover all of the bases, past and present, Odunze should aim for the following numbers for the coming season: 82 catches, 1,146 yards (one more than 2022) and 8 scores.
Now as for McMillan, his sidekick, he came off his 2021 John Donovan offensive experience with 39 catches for 470 yards and 3 scores, leaving him with double-up target numbers of 78, 940 and 6 for the Grubb offense — and he surpassed every one of them with 79, 1,098 and 9.
Which is every reason Odunze had to come back. He needs to keep that other guy humble and further motivated.
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