Bears WR Rome Odunze is studying the right receivers to transform the most disappointing part of his game ahead of Year 3
Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze had a hot start to his 2025 season that was quickly cooled down and turned into a disappointing end. Now, he’s taking the right steps to put a full elite-caliber season together in 2026.
Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze was off to an elite start during his sophomore year and looked like one of the top wide receivers in the league during the first four games of the regular season.
Odunze was putting up big numbers with five touchdowns and 35 targets during that first month of the season. Things, however, eventually cooled off for Odunze after playing through a stress fracture in his foot while also struggling to make the kind of plays the Bears were expecting him to make.
All in all, Odunze finished the year with 661 yards and six touchdowns. It was still a solid season for a WR2 in his second NFL season but far from outcome everyone expected early in the season when he was on fire. Now, Odunze is looking to put everything together in Year 3 to be a true elite player for this offense.
Rome Odunze has been studying the right players to overcome his biggest weakness
Speaking with Cam Newton on the 4th&1 show, Odunze was asked which players he’s been studying to model his game after now that he’s Chicago’s top target entering 2026.
“I looked up to guys like Davante Adams, Julio Jones, I was even watching some Puka (Nacua) film from last year, especially at the catch point,” Odunze explained. “I want to be better at the catch point this year when it comes to contested catches, catching in stride, and all of those different things. Making the quarterback look good when I need to… When it might be a go-make-a-play play, I want to make that play. I watch film on all of those guys and continue to study that and I’ll display that this season, for sure.”
Odunze couldn’t have picked a better three players to study to overcome that weakness. Julio Jones, for example, was a freak athlete for the Atlanta Falcons in his prime. He seemingly caught every pass thrown his way and made every clutch play when his number was called. And at 6-3, 220 pounds, Jones isn’t that far off from Odunze size-wise considering he’s 6-3, 214 pounds. Jones just had that physical mentality about him that Odunze needs to start playing with as well.
Adams and Nacua are also great role models to watch in their own right. Adams is a savant when it comes to his release of the line of scrimmage and can also make some insane contested catches with his late hands. Nacua is elite at catching through traffic and fighting for extra yardage as a bigger receiver.
Odunze is picking the best possible players to watch to model his game after. The biggest takeaway is that he needs to be more of an aggressor player with better technique to be an elite WR.
Chicago Bears are already pushing Rome Odunze to improve on those things
Speaking with the media earlier this offseason, Bears wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El was asked about Odunze and some of the coaching points he’s been emphasizing with his young wide receiver.
“Without going into details, those are plays he knows he can make, and let’s make them,” Randle El explained. “These are different ways that we can make these plays. You go back and you pull that film (from college) and match it up with the plays that he has made in the NFL as it relates to those 50/50 balls or what have you. The one thing you get is that the confidence is restored, let’s go do it from that standpoint. It’s just about showing him, and that’s what we’ve done and we fully expect him to go out and make those plays.
“He’s been critical of those plays that he didn’t make so he’ll, again, I go back to the idea of seeing it, realizing it and now let’s go out and attack it and be better in that area.”
After trading away DJ Moore, the Bears are opening the door for Odunze or Luther Burden III to step up as the team’s top wide receiver. Both of them absolutely have the talent to be top weapons for this team.
With Odunze specifically, he’s been very receptive to the mistakes he made last season and is taking all of the right steps toward improving in those areas.
“The biggest thing about him is that he receives it and is like ‘OK, let’s go work on it.’ And that’s been showing up on the film,” Randle El added. “The progression is there. It’s happening. So I expect him to have a big year for us, too.”
If Odunze can fire out of the gate like he did last season and sustain that level for a full 17-game season, he’s going to prove why he was worth being a Top-10 selection and start setting the conversation for a second contract in Chicago.