April is here, and the NFL draft is a mere three weeks away. The Chicago Bears brass — including general manager Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson — have returned from the owners meetings in Florida to delve into the final stretch of draft preparations.
The Tribune’s Brad Biggs tackles plenty of 2025 draft questions in this week’s Bears mailbag — but he begins with an inquiry about one of last year’s top picks.
With all of the moves the Bears have made, from the coaching staff to upgrading the interior of both lines, not much has been said about Rome Odunze’s rookie season. This is a top-10 pick in last year’s draft. In spite of the offense being a total mess, how do you think he performed and do you expect him to become WR1 before his rookie contract expires? — Corey S.
That’s a good question, and the short answer is, as the No. 9 pick and the third receiver selected in a deep draft at the position, he better be. There’s no question that was the team’s projection when it made the selection.
Odunze finished last season with 54 receptions for 734 yards (a 13.6 average) and three touchdowns. I thought he got better as the season went along, even though you didn’t necessarily see a steady uptick in production. His opportunities were inconsistent; he had four targets or fewer in five games, including the final two. With Keenan Allen out of the picture, you can expect the ball to come Odunze’s way more regularly.
The reason I say Odunze showed improvement is he began to show the ability to uncover and make himself available. He improved as a route runner as the year unfolded and he learned some of the subtle nuances required when you’re not necessarily physically superior to the cornerback on every snap, as is often the case for elite wide receivers in college. He has the traits to be successful in the NFL: a big body (6-foot-3, 215 pounds), a large catch radius and the ability to turn 50-50 balls into 70-30 propositions for quarterback Caleb Williams.
The key for Odunze to blossom into an eventual No. 1 receiver is his ability to get open. That’s what separates the top tier of receivers from the rest of the league. He has to be able to win at the line of scrimmage and coming out of his breaks, and that’s a product of improving his route running and learning how to use his size and length.
You don’t want to be in a situation where your No. 1 receiver needs to be schemed open, and that happens with a lot of rookies where they need play action to create a void or space for catch-and-run opportunities. Sooner or later — preferably sooner — Odunze needs to be able to consistently defeat man coverage. He already has shown the ability to do this, but to be an elite No. 1, it needs to come more regularly. If that happens, I think you’ll wind up pleased with his developmental arc.
In a perfect world, the Bears would be drafting a player to be a No. 2 behind Odunze in three years or so.
How do you rank Ryan Poles based on the last three years of drafting? I feel like if it wasn’t for the Panthers trade, Poles has not done anything impressive. Caleb Williams, Ben Johnson and all the O-line additions are yet to be proven. — Dhana M., Peoria
I don’t want to cop out on an answer, but most folks in the league will tell you it takes three years to evaluate a draft class. Can you see clearly great picks before three years have elapsed? No doubt. Can you identify players who fizzled out in less time? You can, and teams will cut bait quickly in some cases.
Poles’ first draft class in 2022 had 10 picks, but seven were in the fifth round or later. ...
