Bear Digest

Why Bears WR Rome Odunze is primed for a breakout 2025 season

His eagerness and ability to catch anywhere on the field is a dream for HC Ben Johnson
Kirsten Tanis|
Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) catches a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) catches a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers | Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

When Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze was drafted with the ninth overall pick in 2024, expectations were lofty. The superstar out of Washington was highly coveted as much for his elite catch radius and extensive route tree as his high character and leadership ability.

Selected in the same draft class as quarterback Caleb Williams, Bears general manager Ryan Poles believed they could grow in tandem and form a dangerous duo in a high-octane offense.

In their debut season, however, the Bears' offense sputtered. With two outmatched play callers, disjointed game plans, an offensive line that too often conceded territory, and a league-high 68 sacks, Caleb and the offense struggled to produce.

As the third wide receiver on the Bears' depth chart, Rome was competing for target share behind veteran wide receivers D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen. With an underperforming offense, it was a slice of a smaller-than-anticipated pie.

Rome had a productive season for WR3

While Rome shared that being on a losing team and seeing fewer targets than other rookie receivers was tough, he didn't let that shake his confidence. He caught 54 passes for 734 yards and three touchdowns in 2024. His receiving yards were third-highest in the NFL among players targeted the third-most on each team.

While his rank among WR3 peers is important context, it was overlooked by many analysts. Several were critical that Rome's level of production wasn't on par with top rookie receivers and disappointing from a Top 10 pick.

A few analysts even projected that Rome was on his way to being a bust.

Rome's production was limited by target share and Caleb's accuracy

It's unfortunate that their point of view was based on his top-level numbers only. If critics dove deeper, they would have learned that Rome's production wasn't just limited by target volume in a stacked WR room inside a poorly executed offense. It was also significantly impacted by target quality.

The potency of the Bears' passing attack was hampered by Caleb's accuracy struggles, especially on deeper balls. As Rome had the highest percentage of deep targets in his mix, it hit him the hardest.

In fact, Rome led all NFL wide receivers with the highest uncatchable air yards percentage at over 62%. So while Rome saw nearly 1,400 air yards on his targets in 2024, only approximately 560 of those air yards were catchable.

Rome had a better rookie year that people think

And while critics commented on Rome's lack of catches or 53.5% catch rate, his true catch rate when adjusted for uncatchable targets was actually 91.5% per Player Profiler. He also had only 2 drops on the season.

To put that in perspective, compare Rome's true catch rate with notable rookie peers:

2024 Rookie

True Catch Rate

Brock Bowers

91.9%

Rome Odunze

91.5%

Brian Thomas Jr.

88.8%

Malik Nabers

86.5%

Marvin Harrison Jr.

78.5%

Of course, catch rate isn't the only important receiving metric to consider. Rome certainly has opportunity to improve on many. Yet, true ability to catch the ball at a high rate is an important skill and one that I believe Rome didn't get enough credit for last season.

Rome also continued to be a beast at contested catches. He had no difficulty bringing his dominance on these catches in college to his NFL game.

But even if his critics didn't realize how good Rome was, Caleb did.

That's why it was exciting to see Rome emerge as Caleb's trusted, go-to target in some of the biggest must-have-the-catch moments. This was comfortable territory for Rome, who served in this same capacity for Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in college.


Rome made some fantastic grabs to convert on third and fourth downs and during late-game drives, including this gem in the Bears' Week 18 victory over rival Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

Why Rome will have a big 2025

The connection that Ryan Poles hoped to see from Caleb to Rome came to fruition down the stretch. It was a bright spot to build upon amid a disappointing season.

And this ─ along with the following reasons ─ is why I believe Rome is poised for a breakout year in 2025.

  1. Rome will receive more targets as WR2.
  2. Bears head coach Ben Johnson will put Rome's full abilities to their highest and best use. His brilliant play calling in an offense custom-built around Caleb Williams will greatly enable that. Ben is also working closely with Caleb on fundamentals, timing and execution to help him improve his accuracy more like what we saw during his time at USC.
  3. Rome will be under the tutelage of widely-respected Bears assistant head coach and wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle-El. Randle-El did a masterful job developing the Lions' receivers under Ben in Detroit.

Rome's versatility may be his biggest superpower

Exactly how Ben will deploy Rome is anyone's guess. It's hard to predict for two reasons:

  1. Ben didn't have a Lions receiver who directly compares to Rome and his unique combination of size, range, speed and route diversity.
  2. Rome's versatility gives Ben endless ways he can use him, which opens up more possibilities and makes it very hard for defenses to defend him.

Like many pass catchers on the 2025 Bears roster, Ben can line up Rome in different places. Even better, Rome is the unique receiver who can run all routes equally as well.

Nothing showcased this better than Rome's Reception Perception success chart coming out of college. He was the first wide receiver with a green arrow on every single route in Reception Perception's history.

As for Rome's perspective on how he will be used, he's open-minded and flexible as long as he gets opportunities and can help the team win.

Rome expanded on this when he sat down with Matt Harmon on a recent Yahoo Fantasy Forecast podcast. Harmon is a football writer and analyst for Yahoo and creator of Reception Perception.

Harmon asked Rome if he has a preference for whether he likes taking reps from the X position or the slot more. Rome shared:

"Man, I don't have a preference, honestly. Wherever the ball's going, that's where I want to be. So, um, that's the only preference I've got. But nah, honestly, outside or inside, I feel like you know, I have the skill set to do both tasks... it definitely is a different skill set that each position takes on, but I feel like I can have success at this level on both those fronts."

Rome went to talk about the different skills required for each.

  • In the slot, Rome highlighted the importance of sudden quickness, acceleration and ability to create separation. He also talked about how you have more freedom in the middle of the field and with the nickel cornerbacks defending the play not being as big.
  • For outside routes, he noted that coverage is much more physical. Defenders are bigger and more hands-on, so you don't have much space to get open.

Matt and Rome concluded that segment with Matt predicting that he would be used in both capacities. I agree. Based on Ben's love of keeping defenses on their toes, I think Rome will be deployed on both inside and outside routes during games.

As to which routes he will run? That will be anyone's guess ─ and just the way Ben likes it. Rome is an ideal receiver to help execute his principle of multiplicity, where the same things look different and different things look the same.

As long as Rome gets the ball, he will be happy. His strong competitive drive will push him even further to earn more targets and put up big numbers this season. That will silence his critics.

More Chicago Bears News:

Published
Kirsten Tanis
KIRSTEN TANIS

Kirsten Tanis has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2023 with balanced, insightful and well-researched analysis. A lifelong avid sports fan, she is most passionate about NFL Football and believes flea flickers are underrated. She lives with her husband, 3 kids and cats.

Share on XFollow kirsten_tanis1
Home/News