Let’s move on with our third name on our list of the ten Chicago Bears with the most to prove in 2026. If you missed the first two installments, number 10 was punter Tory Taylor, number 9 was left tackle Braxton Jones.
Number 8 is wide receiver Rome Odunze.
Odunze certainly has not been bad in his first two seasons in Chicago, but he certainly hasn’t shown many signs of being the elite WR1 that the Bears expected him to be when they spent the ninth overall pick on him in 2024.
Rome saw his yards per
game increase in 2025 from 43 in 2024 to 55. And his yards per catch also increased from 13.6 to 15.0. Odunze also doubled his touchdown output from 3 to 6.
While those numbers look like something to build on (and they are), there are also some concerning numbers as well.
Odunze’s success rate did not improve at all and remained comfortably below 50% at 45.6%, and the most alarming number was that his catch rate dropped from a poor 53.5% in 2024 to an even worse 48.9% in 2025.
Odunze’s success rate was 111th in the NFL. His catch rate was 190th out of 197 players. Again, Odunze’s catch rate was 190th out of 197 players.
Caleb’s passer rating when he targeted Odunze was 81.8, placing him 154th among those 197 players. For comparison, Colston Loveland’s passer rating was 121.6, Luther Burden’s was 123.1, and DJ Moore’s was 103.2. Even Jahdae Walker’s was 127.9.
So while some of Odunze’s numbers improved last year, the efficiency with which he got those numbers was honestly woeful. There needs to be significant improvement from Odunze this year in this offense.
Odunze did play through injuries at points last season, including a stress fracture, and that may have been a factor, but regardless of what other factors may have led to some of these numbers, they need to vastly improve in 2026.
What does Odunze need to improve on this year to increase those productivity numbers?
First of all, it would certainly help if Odunze were largely healthy this year. If he’s not, that would be two straight years dealing with injury issues, and that opens up another can of questions.
Second, he needs to squeeze the football. Odunze needs to catch the ball better. He struggled with dropping the football, and his hands simply need to be more reliable.
From a playing perspective, Antwaan Randle-El has talked about wanting better route running from Rome Odunze, and all of Caleb Williams’ receivers need to be better in the scramble drill when Caleb goes off-book and tries to improvise.
Even if Odunze improves this year, there’s a good chance that he falls to the third option in the offense behind Burden and Loveland. Keep in mind, last year Odunze led the team in targets despite missing 5 games. If Odunze’s role diminishes in the offense, the Bears may have a tough choice deciding if they want to pick up his fifth-year option after next season. Odunze’s salary would be somewhere between $20 and $24 million on that option.
When you use a top ten pick on a player, the expectation has to be that the player receives a second contract with the team that drafted him. If Odunze doesn’t greatly improve this year, that contract will be in jeopardy.
Now, before we decline Odunze’s fifth-year option and kick him off the team after the 2027 season, let’s be clear: Odunze may have struggled last year, but he missed games and played hurt during the back half of the season when the Bears’ offense started clicking. He has shown promise at points during his first two seasons, and this is only his second year with Ben Johnson. There are plenty of reasons to still be positive about Odunze’s outlook in Chicago, but there are reasons for concern as well.
It may only be two seasons, but I’m at a point where I don’t think Odunze has WR1 stuff. I haven’t seen electric speed, dynamic jump ball ability, or fabulous catches that great wide receivers traditionally make. Odunze plays more like a reliable WR2, and that may be all Chicago needs him to be. If Loveland becomes an elite TE and Burden becomes the team’s WR1, perhaps Odunze would be happy in Chicago being paid at a WR2 salary and being a guy who catches 60 balls for 800 yards a season.
But again, that’s not what the Bears drafted Odunze to be.
This is a big year for Rome because after this season, fans and, more importantly, the Bears coaches, will have a strong idea of what kind of player they have in Rome Odunze.
