Potential cause for concern on Bears offense is actually a massive green flag for Rome Odunze’s NFL future
Head coach Ben Johnson had nothing but praise for Odunze despite a frustrating game.
Coming out of the Chicago Bears win over the Cincinnati Bengals, it’s easy to be concerned about wide receiver Rome Odunze after finishing with zero receptions, but that’s fantasy bias talking.
At the same time, Chicago finished the game with 47 points with six total touchdowns and totaled almost 600 yards of offense. Doing that without a single yard from the team’s top wide receiver on the season is impressive stuff and there’s no reason to be concerned with Odunze.
All season, head coach Ben Johnson has noted it’s going to be difficult to feed every horse in the stable every week. On Sunday, wide receiver DJ Moore and rookie tight end Colston Loveland were the primary weapons for the Bears offense but Odunze still played a key role despite the limited production from a receiving standpoint.
Ben Johnson had nothing but praise for Rome Odunze handling what could’ve been a frustrating game
“You highlight a guy like Rome Odunze, who you walk out and you realize he didn’t have any catches, and yet in the running game you see him all over that tape,” Johnson said during his weekly interview with Jeff Joniak. “That speaks volumes for him and the character that he has. It’s easy for a guy at that position to get a little bit frustrated with how a game like that goes, you see all your other buddies getting some production and you’re not. And yet he still finds a way to impact that game.”
That’s the kind of player Odunze is. He’s not going to hang his head or pitch a fit on the sideline for not getting the ball. He knew how he was going to make an impact going into this game and went headfirst into that role. When it came to run blocking, Odunze finished with the third-highest PFF grade on the entire team and was clearing guys out in the second level all game long.
Receiving-wise, Odunze got some opportunities but unfortunately just wasn’t able to connect. His first target of the game came from tight end Cole Kmet on a “trick play” and after a review the ball wasn’t maintained through the catch.
On his second target, Odunze was blanketed by tight coverage against DJ Turner, who’s been quietly locking down receivers all season long. And on the third and final target Odunze had on Sunday, Williams was behind on the throw that could have been a potential touchdown and instead ended up as a drop.
Regardless, Odunze is still going to be a major factor in this offense. Getting this kind of offensive production without forcing the ball to Odunze is actually a good thing for this team. Seeing Odunze’s selflessness in his role is a welcome sight for true fans too because we’ve seen how other wide receivers around the league handle that situation very differently.
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