Bear Digest

Rome Odunze sets the record straight on his role in Ben Johnson's offense

After a no-show in Week 9 and some cryptic tweets from his father, Rome Odunze made his feelings clear on Thursday.
Pete Martuneac|
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Much to the chagrin of Chicago Bears fans and fantasy football managers everywhere, second-year receiver Rome Odunze was completely shutout of the stat sheet in the Bears' Week 9 win over the Bengals. It was the first time in Odunze's young NFL career that he failed to record a single reception, having caught at least two passes in every game but three prior to Sunday.

Making matters worse, Odunze was only targeted three times, the lowest total of passes to come his way since Week 18 of last season. Odunze did drop two of those three targets, however, so it's understandable that Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson went away from him in a close game. Well, it's understandable to most people.

Rome Odunze's father wasn't happy with the Bears following his son's lack of involvement in Week 9, and he made his displeasure clear on social media by sharing a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) that called for the Bears to trade Odunze to "a team that will actually throw to him".

Predictably, this caused a firestorm among Bears fans, and for good reason. No one wants to see Odunze traded out of Chicago. He's been one of the Bears' most talented and likeable receivers ever drafted to the team, and he's already well on his way to rewriting every franchise receiving record. Not to mention, Odunze was consistently Caleb Williams' top target in every game before Week 9, leading some to wonder if Odunze had already surpassed DJ Moore as WR1 in Chicago.

But Bears fans need not panic. For one thing, it's understandable for a father to want nothing but the best for his son. Additionally, Odunze himself set the record straight on Thursday. Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times posted to X that Odunze is very happy with his role in Chicago, even if his dad is temporarily frustrated.

Odunze is happy in Chicago, and that's not likely to change

Apart from Caleb Williams, Odunze is arguably the most important player to Chicago's success going forward. If he develops into an elite receiver alongside Williams, then you can count on Chicago's offense being among the league's very best year in and year out for the next decade. This means that keeping him happy with his role in the offense is paramount for Ben Johnson and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.

Luckily, I don't think that's much of a problem. Odunze seems perfectly content as a Bear, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Rome Odunz
David Banks-Imagn Images

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Pete Martuneac
PETE MARTUNEAC

A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk. He lives with his wife, two kids and loyal dog.

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