When he was the Lions’ wide receivers coach a year ago, Antwaan Randle El considered Rome Odunze — not Marvin Harrison or Malik Nabers — to be the best receiver in the 2024 draft. He called Odunze’s receivers coach at Washington before the draft and asked, half-seriously, whether there was any chance his college pupil would fall to the Lions.
Odunze didn’t, in part because the Bears felt the same way about him. They drafted him No. 8 overall.
A year later, Randle El followed head coach Ben Johnson to Chicago.
‘‘It didn’t work out in Detroit,’’ Randle El said of drafting Odunze, ‘‘but I’m glad that he’s here.’’
The Bears are glad Randle El is, too. After helping to mentor Amon-Ra St. Brown to top-five receiving seasons in 2023 and 2024, he has turned his attention to Odunze and the rest of the Bears’ receiving room.
‘‘The thing about Rome is, he has huge upside,’’ Randle El said in April. ‘‘I’ve gotta be able to nourish that so he can grow as a player.’’
If Odunze is going to become the star receiver the Bears think he can be, now is the season to show it. He’s not a rookie anymore, and neither is quarterback Caleb Williams. The Bears traded in
coordinator Shane Waldron for Johnson, the play-calling head coach who was the most popular name on the offseason coaching carousel.
‘‘This is an explosive offense,’’ Odunze said Thursday. ‘‘I think Ben and the crew have great offensive minds. So I feel like they can help put me in positions to succeed. That’s all I can ask for. . . . I have to go out there and make the plays and get the job done, regardless.
‘‘We both have to come together to make that happen. But I feel like it’s brewing.’’
Odunze was targeted 101 times last season, tied for the 63rd-most in NFL history for a rookie receiver. Among those rookies, however, he finished 116th in receiving success rate — which measures whether players can gain 40% of the yards to go on first down, 60% on second or 100% on third or fourth — and receiving yards per game. He was 118th in yards gained per target. Odunze’s 43.2 receiving yards per game ranked 58th among all receivers in the NFL last season.
Odunze’s inconsistency came in part because of Williams’ struggles and an offense so broken it had three coordinators during the course of the 5-12 season.
‘‘The hardest part? Losing,’’ Odunze said. ‘‘Losing sucks.’’
Odunze spent the offseason adding muscle in his upper body. He wants to do a better job of winning the hand-fighting against press coverage at the line of scrimmage and swat away defenders when they try to grab him down the field.
‘‘Rome’s taken a step this year, I can already tell,’’ receiver DJ Moore said.
Increased strength will help Odunze be more physical on 50/50 balls, too. The Bears need him and Williams to be better on those deep shots. Only 11 receivers got more targets than Odunze’s 24 on passes of 20 yards or more last season, but he caught only four of them.
Odunze didn’t have time to be so hyperfocused last offseason, when he trained for the NFL Scouting Combine, interviewed with teams before the draft, then quickly had to learn how to be a pro. In his first NFL season, he learned what he didn’t know.
‘‘It’s a different game than college football,’’ Odunze said. ‘‘There’s different windows, different ways to get open and kind of a different pace that you’ve kind of got to get adapted to. And having a full season under my belt, I feel like I’m aware of those things and can now play the game freely in a way, knowing exactly where I need to be [and] when I need to be there.
‘‘I just need to cater it to this offense and quarterback and chemistry within there.’’
Williams was more in sync with Odunze than he was with any other receiver last season. That seems to be the case this offseason, too.
‘‘[Williams] has continued to grow, from what I’ve seen, and made strides and continued to pour into his profession and his craft,’’ Odunze said. ‘‘From my perspective, that’s all that matters.’’
Odunze’s goals for this season are double-digit touchdowns, at least 1,000 receiving yards and, most important, to win. The Bears won’t have one without the other.
‘‘I think when you’re doing the right things and you’re having success and the team is having success, all the statistics and those numbers will come,’’ he said.
Johnson likes his chances.
‘‘To be a second-year guy, you would expect a little bit more inconsistency,’’ he said. ‘‘And yet the way he approaches the meeting room, the walkthrough, the drill work, it’s very much like a seasoned pro. Some of the best that I’ve been around. And he’s still learning.’’
