While he might not have as many catches as New York Giants rookie Malik Nabers or as many yards as Arizona Cardinals rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., Chicago Bears top ten pick Rome Odunze has had a strong first campaign in the NFL while dealing with many obstacles.
He’s accrued 39 catches for 518 yards and a touchdown while having to deal with a host of issues around him, including an early MCL sprain, struggles from his fellow rookie, quarterback Caleb Williams, and poor play calling by offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Now that Waldron is out and interim coordinator Thomas Brown is calling plays, Williams has shown significant improvement and a tendency to look for Odunze when he needs to make a big play. As their chemistry improves, the former Washington Huskies star knows what he needs to do to have a bigger impact at the NFL level.
“[I] definitely want to touch the end zone a little bit more,” Odunze told Sportscasting.com’s DJ Siddiqi. “At this point, I’m sitting with one touchdown. I want to put up points on the board, that’s the receiver’s job — first downs and touchdowns.”
Odunze got used to finding the end zone during his final season with the Huskies, hauling in 13, good for the fourth-most in a single season in school history. He’s also tied with Dante Pettis for No. 3 in total receiving scores with 24 and wants to carry that success with him to the NFL level, where he hasn’t found the end zone since Chicago’s Week 3 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.
But how can he do that?
“I don’t think there’s anything that I can really point out,” he continued. “We’ve had our struggles offensively, and those things all contribute. At the end of the day, I just have to make the most of opportunities that come to me and maximize them, whether that’s an extraordinary play or just making the small ones as well. There’s a lot of factors that go into that. At the end of the day, it’s all about results, and I want to touch that paint.”
Check out Odunze’s full interview here.
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