Most important Chicago Bears in 2025: No. 6 Rome Odunze

The wait is almost over. The Bears will return to the practice field on July 23 when they hold their first training camp practice under new head coach Ben Johnson.

Over two weeks, Shaw Local is counting down the top-10 most important Bears heading into the 2025 season. Importance is obviously subjective. But for our purposes, it comes down to these questions:

Are the Bears worse off without the player? Does the player have untapped potential or past greatness to live up to? Is his story going to be one fans follow closely this season?

The best player on the team isn’t always the most important, but he certainly can be.

Here’s a look at No. 6 on the list. Check back in over the next two weeks to see the top-10 most important Bears.

No. 6 Rome Odunze

Position: Wide receiver

Experience: Second season

Looking back: When Bears general manager Ryan Poles drafted quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, he made sure to use the offseason to surround Williams with as many offensive weapons that he could. That included using the No. 9 overall pick to select wide receiver Rome Odunze.

Odunze showed glimpses of his potential and his connection with Williams throughout his rookie season. He finished third on the team with 734 receiving yards on 54 receptions and 101 targets and caught three touchdowns. Odunze started 12 games and played in all of the Bears’ 17 matchups, averaging 13.6 yards per reception.

The results were inconsistent throughout much of the season, much like most of the offense’s results. Odunze finished with over 100 receiving yards in a game twice last season and had over 50 receiving yards in a game four times. He had one multi-touchdown game.

There were various reasons for the inconsistency. But Odunze mostly got lost in the shuffle behind DJ Moore and Keenan Allen last year. When Williams was pressured and needed to get the ball out, he mostly looked to Allen in the slot instead Odunze on the outside.

Looking ahead: Williams should greatly benefit from all the offseason changes Poles made this offseason with the addition of Johnson as the team’s play caller and an improved offensive line. But Odunze will gain a lot from the changes, too.

Odunze will be featured more in Johnson’s offense than he was last year as the team’s No. 3 receiver. He will move up to the Bears’ No. 2 slot behind Moore after Poles decided not to re-sign Allen during the offseason. Poles also drafted Luther Burden III in the second round this April to further bolster the receivers room.

Johnson should find different ways to use Odunze’s size and speed to the offense’s benefit, both on the outside and inside. Williams didn’t find Odunze on the outside often in one-on-one matchups last season. But Odunze has gained muscle over the offseason and has previously shown an ability to fight for balls in the air.

Whether Odunze will stick to one spot remains to be seen. Johnson told reporters in the spring that he was still looking to see what each receiver could do from each spot of the line of scrimmage. But Odunze has already shown a lot of what he can do both on and off the field during offseason practices.

“I’m extremely impressed,” Johnson said during the spring. “To be a second-year guy, you would expect a little bit more inconsistency. And yet, the way he approaches the meeting room, the walk-throughs, the on-field, the drill work, it’s very much like a seasoned pro, some of the best that I’ve been around.”

The Bears are hoping the offense runs smoother for Williams this fall with all the changes Poles made. Williams should have more time in the pocket with an upgraded offensive line to find his targets, including Odunze.

If the offense is clicking, their top-10 bond between Williams and Odunze will likely be a major reason why.

Previous installments of the top 10 most important Bears

• No. 10 Gervon Dexter
• No. 9 Drew Dalman
• No. 8 Dayo Odeyingbo
• No. 7 D’Andre Swift