Rome Odunze gives Ben Johnson something he never had in Detroit and will be the reason his scheme will look slightly different in Chicago
When the Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson as the team's next head coach, the main draw was the offensive success he created with the Detroit Lions.Over the last three seasons, Detroit was putting up record-breaking numbers on the offensive side of the ball, both because of Johnson's creativity in play-calling and because of the elite […]
When the Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson as the team's next head coach, the main draw was the offensive success he created with the Detroit Lions.
Over the last three seasons, Detroit was putting up record-breaking numbers on the offensive side of the ball, both because of Johnson's creativity in play-calling and because of the elite talent he had to work with.
Coming to Chicago, Johnson will be forced to adapt his scheme, slightly.
"It's not going to look like it did in Detroit," Ben Johnson said during his first press conference as the Bears' head coach. "We have a completely different personnel group than what we did in Detroit. This entire offense is going to be predicated on the guys that we have available. That's going to take the spring time as well as training camp to hone in what it's going to look like."
To an extent, some of it will look similar. Johnson is already moving Caleb Williams under center to implement more play-action plays like he did with Jared Goff and already compared rookie tight end Colston Loveland to Sam LaPorta. And the run game will use D'Andre Swift in that Jahmyr Gibbs role as a home run hitter.
The wide receiver position is where the biggest difference is personnel-wise. DJ Moore and rookie Luther Burden III can play that power-slot role Johnson loved to use with Amon-Ra St. Brown while both can bring downfield speed as well.
The real wildcard that will evolve Johnson's scheme in Chicago is actually second-year wide receiver Rome Odunze because of the style of play he brings to the table.
"Just my size, I feel like he's been harping on just being a dominant receiver when it comes to those outside routes and 50/50 balls," Odunze explained via Yahoo! Sports. "I feel like he harps on that a lot and that being a big asset for us in this offense."
While serving as the Lions' offensive coordinator, Johnson really didn't have a physically dominant X-receiver. Josh Reynolds and Tim Patrick brought some of that style to Johnson's offense in Detroit, but not to the level Odunze plays at.
Odunze excelled on the outside during his rookie season going up against tight window coverages using his size to his advantage. Per PFF, Odunze's 72.2 contested catch percentage ranked 2nd among 88 WRs with 50+ targets last season.
Where does that come into play? Primarily in the red zone, where Odunze scored all three of his touchdowns in 2024 and in play action situations where he'll be faced with more one-on-one looks on the outside. When his number is called in those spots, he delivered, even as a rookie in a bad offense.
How Ben Johnson can further unlock Rome Odunze
Under the previous offense, which changed hands halfway through the season, Odunze was used like a one-trick pony. Odunze was lined up on the outside on 65.8% of his offensive snaps, per PFF.
Johnson's already mentioned how every receiver has the ability to line up all over the field and moving Odunze around the formation pre-snap is in the cards to create different matchups against opposing defenses.
"He likes to put people in different positions to succeed and I think he's even providing new ways for me that I'm like 'Okay, yeah, I can do that,'" Odunze added. "He provides a unique perspective in that sense."
The other thing is mixing up the routes. Last season, Odunze ran 547 routes and led the team with 58 go/fly, comeback, or double move deep routes, according to Sports Info Solutions.
Just look at Odunze's route tree chart coming into the NFL. After seeing this, it's easy to see how criminally underutilized Odunze was in the Bears' offense last season.
Diversifying how he lines up and what routes he's running can help make his impact in the offense more unpredictable and more dangerous for opposing defenses.
After that, his size and physicality can give Johnson a totally different skillset to work with while constructing this passing attack throughout the season.
