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Rome Odunze's Offseason Paints Bears a Better Picture Than 2025 Finish

A fast start in 2025 faded into disappointment largely due to a foot injury for the first-round Bears pick but his offseason start encourages coaches a rebound is coming.
Gene Chamberlain|
Rome Odunze scampers for yardage after the catch against the Giants last season.
Rome Odunze scampers for yardage after the catch against the Giants last season. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It seems wide receiver Rome Odunze has been doing more this offseason than making video imitations of a popular, deceased painter.

While the schedule introduction video the team had Odunze do met with generally favorable response, it's Odunze's commitment to improving on last year that should really fire up the fan base and fantasy football owners who lost big time investing in his potential.

What often gets forgotten about Odunze and his quiet finish to the season is it occurred because of a broken foot, and that it looked like a very different season very early in Year 2 before some dropped passes.

Odunze's drop in catches from 54 as a rookie to 44 in Year 2 can't be traced total to drops themselves, because he actually improved greatly at holding onto the ball from Year 1 to Year 2 despite one key playoff drop against the Rams at the goal line. He had only two dropped passes on the season after dropping six as a rookie, according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference.

"I think it goes back to, again, this will be his third offseason but the second offseason in this offense," wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El said. "The hesitation is gone as it relates to 'do I need run this route like this? Or like that?' That’s one thing, when you get past that, things begin to grow even more.

"We had a little bit of that last year but you can see this offseason that he’s having has been great. I expect him to have a great year. We had a few little things we had to tweak as we talked about player to coach and what do you want to work on, and things that I saw. The biggest thing about him is that he receives it and is like 'OK, let’s go work on it.’ And that’s been showing up on the film. The progression is there. It’s happening."

Whatever happened to the 50-50 king?

It might be more the fact he hasn't made enough 50-50 catches than the drops that seems perplexing. Odunze came to the team with a reputation for being a master at this at Washington. Then again, both Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams have said they don't really like 50-50 balls because it means putting passes at risk when they'd rather scheme up something to get receivers open.

Still, design isn't everything. Some 50-50 balls can be on off-platform throws as Williams runs out of the pocket. There should be opportunities regardless of whether they want to keep the total to a minimum.

"Without going into details, those are plays he knows he can make, and let’s make them," Randle El said. "These are different ways that we can make these plays.

"You go back and you pull that (college) film and match it up with the plays that he has made in the NFL as it relates to those 50/50 balls, or what have you, the one thing you get is that the confidence is restored. Let’s go do it from that standpoint. It’s just about showing him, and that’s what we’ve done and we fully expect him to go out and make those plays. And he does for himself, too."

Odunze hasn't denied he disappointed himself by not making enough plays or messing up some easier ones, but you have to wonder what his numbers could have been without those five missed games due to injury and playing in the playoffs even with the broken foot against Green Bay and the Rams.

He had five touchdown catches and 31 receptions at 15.3 yards per catch after the first seven games, then only 13 more catches with his regular season ending in Week 12.

It the foot injury is in his past, there are real reasons to expect continued lower production because Odunze already showed he had advanced before it happened.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.