Organized team activities officially kicked off for the 2026 Chicago Bears last week. Amidst the flurry of clips, news, and rumors that come with OTAs, a particular clip captured the attention of many outlets and commentators. The clip in question shows third-year quarterback Caleb Williams rolling out to his right, avoiding pressure, and, while on the run, uncorks an absolute dart to wide receiver Rome Odunze, who hauls the pass in and races down the sideline for a touchdown.
Setting aside the obvious critique of “it’s just practice” (and the fact that we have tape of him doing this at various points in the 2025 season), it’s a pretty incredible throw. Rolling to his right without a standard throwing base, across his body and across the field, Caleb drops a ball in the bread basket of Rome Odunze.
Bears backup quarterback Case Keenum himself added to the impressiveness of the throw a few hours after it was posted with a quick tid-bit.
67 air yards, no throwing base, across his body and football field, perfectly in stride to Rome for a touchdown. Incredible arm talent, and in my opinion, 1 of 1 type of arm talent given the circumstances outlined above.
But as I skimmed the comments, I kept seeing an interesting critique pointing not at Caleb Williams, but wide receiver Rome Odunze.
As many recall, there was a lot of discourse regarding Rome using his body to catch, specifically after the Bears suffered a 20-17 overtime loss to the Rams in the NFC Divisional round, a game where Rome dropped an early touchdown opportunity, mainly due to what many say was him attempting to catch with his body.
I leave speculation to the viewer, but this particular drop, in my eyes, is what’s leading this narrative that Rome needs to catch with his hands more, so maybe those bringing it up have a real case?
Well, I am here to tell you, Rome Odunze did nothing wrong! (In the OTA clip)
I will preface that claim by saying I am by no means an expert; I was just a guy who played 12 years of organized football as a wide receiver and coached/assisted in coaching wide receivers a handful of years afterward. This article is based on how I was coached as a wide receiver and how I coached wide receivers.
Putting aside the obvious skills needed to be a successful wide receiver, such as hands, speed, agility, strength, ball tracking, hand-eye coordination, and balance. There are some skills that a wide receiver needs in order to be successful. I don’t know if they are normally talked about in any large capacity, so let’s call them:
- Information Control
and
- Catch Mechanics
So, what exactly do these terms mean?
Information Control
In short, this is the ability to limit the information a wide receiver gives to influenced defenders. This can be done in many ways, some common ones are:
- Deception via the eyes: “Tracking” a ball incorrectly to influence a defender, trying to potentially read ball placement through tracking your eyes.
- Slight movements within the route can influence defenders to flip their hips prematurely or influence their pursuit in coverage.
- Deception via the hands: as in throwing up the “mailbox” on a play where the ball has already been released toward another target, forcing a defender to commit to you.
- Another way to do this is to pantomime tracking a ball with your hands, forcing a defender to commit to covering you when the play is going elsewhere.
- Maintaining a natural stride throughout your route, or doing the opposite.
- Maintaining your stride will avoid giving your defender information as most receivers tend to slow down or speed up to get to landmarks when throwing.
- The opposite serves to deceive a defender into committing early or incorrectly to a route.
Catch Mechanics
The best way I can explain this is with an analogy. A repairman has a toolbox with every tool for the job. If there’s a nail half sticking out of a board, he uses a hammer. If there is a screw head with a + on the top of it, he pulls out the Phillips-head screwdriver and tightens it. If he sees a screw head with a – on the top of it, he pulls out the flathead.
I think you get it by now, Every job has a different tool needed for it, the same goes for wide receivers and catching the football, not every throw requires the same angle of attack from the receiver. I will outline those below, with each style having an example linked to it.
- Active Hands: Or simply, catching with your hands. This decreases the amount of time the ball is in the air, allowing less time for defenders to break on a ball and make a play. In/Out breaking routes, timing routes and tighter window throws benefit the most from extending the arms to create a closer catch point.
- Attacking the Football: Or “coming back to the ball,” this is both a combination of having active hands and decreasing the distance between you and the quarterback by working back towards him. Extremely important in curl and comeback routes, routes that rely on timing and generally small amounts of separation from defenders benefit greatly from attacking the football.
- Playing Defender: This is reserved for balls underthrown deep. You are taught to “become the defender” by coming back to the ball, using your height and arm length to try and go over the top of a trailing defender (or adjust otherwise), and at the very least, try and draw a pass interference penalty.
- Late Hands: The ability to give a trailing defender as little information as possible when it comes to the location of the ball as it travels to the receiver, giving the defender fractions of a second to react to a receiver attempting to catch a pass. This so happens to be one of Rome Odunze’s strengths as a wide receiver.
So what does this mean for Rome Odunze?
I admit, I’ve talked a bit more than I had planned about this topic, so I will wrap this up quickly, but 1.) it’s the offseason, and 2.) I hope you all enjoy learning the X’s and O’s of football as much as I do.
That said, Rome Odunze plays this rep perfectly.
With a defender trailing, Rome does an excellent job of limiting the information the defender gleans from Odunze. He maintains a steady stride, and shows off those late hands essentially at the last moment. And while coverage was beat pretty handily, as a receiver, you always assume someone is close enough to make a play on you.
A gorgeous throw, matched with a perfectly executed catch, and just a quick glimpse into the mind of a former JV wide receiver.
Gary Baugher Jr. is a 2nd year contributor to WCG, bringing football insight backed by over 16 years of experience in organized football and more than 30 years as a passionate fan of the game. You can follow him on Twitter at @iamcogs.
