The Chicago Bears were supposed to see Rome Odunze become Caleb Williams' WR1 during the 2025 season. Unfortunately, Odunze wasn't far off from being the Bears' WR3, based on output, factoring in a stress fracture in his foot.
Odunze caught less than half of his targets (44/90) and had fewer catches and nine more receiving yards (661) than rookie Luther Burden III (47 catches, 652 yards). Burden only played three more games than Odunze, having also suffered late-season injuries.
Had Odunze been a bigger factor in the postseason, his woes would've been an easier pill to swallow. Unfortunately, he had identical stats -- two catches for 44 yards on six targets -- in the team's postseason win against the Green Bay Packers and elimination loss against the Los Angeles Rams.
Colston Loveland has become Williams' top target. While Loveland has exceptional hands and is supremely athletic, Williams' go-to guy should probably be a split end. Odunze is that, he just didn't take advantage of Williams' penchant to hunt for him downfield as well as he should.
Odunze cannot have another campaign that moves the needle backwards. Luckily, he should be set up for success with Ryan Poles' moves this offseason.
DJ Moore Trade Clears the Runway for Rome Odunze in 2026
There's not a single more helpful development for Odunze's trajectory than DJ Moore's departure to the Buffalo Bills via trade this offseason. Moore's exit opens the room up for Burden to take on more reverse actions out of the backfield, to catch the defense napping on the job, but it also leaves Odunze as the main target on deep routes. As Williams continues to get comfortable in Ben Johnson's offense, Odunze now becomes the primary beneficiary in the WR room, with little competition.
Recently expressing confidence in the offense, shouting out Loveland, Burden, and Kyle Monangai, though curiously excluding D'Andre Swift, Odunze isn't sulking about what was a relative down year compared to a rookie season in which he amassed 54 receptions and 734 yards.
In fact, with an offseason of integrating him more heavily into the offense, Odunze could be in store for the biggest year of his career so far. Statistically, most receivers make the biggest jumps between year two and year three.
After a sophomore slump, Odunze has had the runway cleared ahead of him. Now, it's on the former Washington Huskies star to take off in an offense seemingly built for him to succeed with Moore gone.