Former Scout Reveals Why Rome Odunze Will Outproduce All Rookie WRs

The Chicago Bears drafted Rome Odunze because they saw a special player. He not only had loads of talent but his work ethic and personal drive were two things they constantly prioritized in every player they selected. His outstanding year for Washington in 2023 spoke for itself. The only question for many was whether he could carry that over into his rookie season. Most people have kept their focus on Marvin Harrison Jr. in Arizona and Malike Nabers in New York, not because they were picked ahead of Odunze but because each will likely be the primary target for their respective quarterbacks immediately.

However, former scout and top draft expert Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network sees it differently. He stated on The Rich Eisen Show that Odunze has an opportunity people aren’t seeing. Defenses will be focused on one thing going into this season: not letting D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen go off. Those two are sure to keep defensive coordinators up all week trying to game-plan ways to stop them. Nobody realizes what this means for Odunze. Lots and lots of single coverage.

Rome Odunze won’t have the same obstacles as other rookies.

Once it becomes clear how dangerous Harrison and Nabers are, defenses will start devoting extra coverage to containing them. That won’t happen with Odunze. At least not unless opponents are content leaving Moore or Allen one-on-one, which is tantamount to suicide. This is why the Bears drafted Odunze in the first place. Their entire goal was to stress defenses as much as possible. That meant providing quarterback Caleb Williams with an abundance of weapons. One of the issues with previous teams is they didn’t have the firepower to force defenses to defend everywhere.

They pinpointed who the primary target was, rolled coverages their way, and too often, nobody else could step up to take advantage. That won’t be the case this year, not if everybody stays healthy. Rome Odunze beat single coverage to death at Washington. There is no reason to think he can’t do the same in the NFL, especially when he is likely to face the third-best cornerback every opponent has. It is another reminder of why the Bears knew what they were doing when selecting him.