If you are looking for a silver lining that is the 0-2 start by the Chicago Bears, look no further than what Rome Odunze has done in the first two weeks of the season.
Odunze, the Bears’ other first-round pick in 2024, appears to be growing into the role of being a WR1. The University of Washington product looks to have built chemistry with fellow 2024 NFL Draft first-round classmate Caleb Williams, which shows up in big ways and in big moments. At this rate, Odunze is clearly Williams’ favorite target — and you can understand why when you dig into the numbers. In the Week 2 loss to the Detroit Lions, Odunze was targeted a team-leading 11 times and turned that into 7 catches, 128 receiving yards, and a pair of touchdowns. Odunze scored another touchdown in Week 1 to go along with six catches and 37 receiving yards.
Through 19 games, this is what Caleb Williams’ numbers look like when targeting Rome Odunze:
67/120 (55.8%) 910 receiving yards 6 touchdowns 1 interception 93.4 passer ratingOn the whole, those numbers are fine. Encouraging, even. But the early-season numbers for Williams when he throws to Odunze are outstanding. Williams is 13-for-20 (65%) for 176 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, an 8.6 yards/attempt average, and a 137.5 passer rating. Don’t get me wrong. I want Caleb to spread the wealth, especially with the collection of pass-catching targets this team has assembled going into this season. HOWEVER, I can see why Rome Odunze is Williams’ main man.
Check out this route tree:
Good morning pic.twitter.com/oqlGFsAKFm
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 15, 2025Running a variety of routes from a bunch of different spots in formations on the field is what we expect it to look like for a budding WR1.
And, hey, it’s not like we didn’t see this coming. Rome Odunze said back in June that he was ready to play “freely” in 2025. Plus, Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson dropped some strong hints about how he planned on using Odunze this season. So far, Johnson is backing his words with action. Meanwhile, Rome is backing his talk with action and making his coach’s faith in him look wise. What a combination.
Rome Odunze’s development is coming along just fine
Chicago Bears radio analyst Tom Thayer does a wonderful job breaking down the developing partnership between quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze. These next 62 seconds are well worth your time:
Caleb & Rome continue to build their connection pic.twitter.com/NECrXL2vxF
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 16, 2025MORE: CALEB WILLIAMS’ TAPE BACKS UP COACH’S “SIGNIFICANT GROWTH” CLAIMS
Things are rough with the Bears right now. There is no sugarcoating that fact. However, just because things are bad right now, it doesn’t mean that I will ignore good things when they pop up. Hence, I refuse to look past Rome Odunze and his budding connection with Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
In a year when Williams’ development as a second-year player was atop our watch list, it makes sense that we would get a feel for his top targets. Two games represent a small sample. But if you take the 17 games from 2024 into the equation, then it is fair to jump to the conclusion that Odunze’s development as a WR1 and Williams’ development as Chicago’s QB1 are connected at the hip. So we will continue to watch this tandem’s development with great interest.
I can’t wrap this post up without pointing out one concern that I can’t shake. Because, let’s be clear, it isn’t like Rome Odunze doesn’t have things to work on as a second-year player. Like Williams, Odunze is a work in progress when it comes to ironing out some kinks in his game. For instance, there have been concentration lapses that have led to dropped passes. Drops will happen from time to time, but it would be nice to see Rome level up his game and erase whatever case of the dropsies he is dealing with as a young player. I’ll exercise patience here and report back later in the year when we have a larger sample to analyze.
Aug 22, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) stiff arms Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook (6) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn ImagesHence then, the article about sunday s silver lining rome odunze is developing into a wr1 was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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