Rome Odunze's Fantasy Football Outlook in Chicago
The Chicago Bears absolutely crushed the 2024 NFL Draft, selecting USC QB Caleb Williams with the first overall pick and landing Rome Odunze at ninth overall. Many people, including myself, did not think Odunze would make it to their pick. By most accounts, Odunze was among the top players on their draft boards and the Bears were ecstatic to add the wideout to an already impressive receiving corps. With plenty of competition but a potentially game-changing quarterback, Odunze’s fantasy football outlook for 2024 is a bit unique.
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Rome Odunze: The Prospect
Standing at 6’3, 212 pounds, the 21-year-old is coming off a 1,553-yard season at Washington. He earned a 24.5% target share and racked up 13 receiving touchdowns in his final year. After a successful season, Odunze entered the NFL Combine with a lot of pressure. He was the only top wideout doing drills and testing among Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers. Odunze did more than show up, running a 4.45-second 40-yard dash. When adjusting for his size he posted a 93rd percentile speed score.
So he’s a mega-producer at the collegiate level who also tested well. He can win in so many different ways including his route-running, speed, and jump-ball ability. He lined up exclusively on the outside for the Huskies but that didn’t stop him from getting open at an insane clip. Matt Harmon’s reception perception tracks how frequently a wideout gets open and breaks it up by the types of routes they run.
Since Matt started Reception Perception over a decade ago, Odunze is the first prospect to ever be above average at getting open on every single route. It’s truly impressive as Odunze can win in so many different ways at the next level. Even if he has pedestrian quarterback play or a supporting cast that could cause double teams, he would be a tantalizing fantasy option. Neither of those are the case as Caleb Williams, D.J. Moore, and Keenan Allen, figure to provide more than enough support for him to reach insane heights as a rookie.
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Rome Odunze with the Bears
Given the Bears' current roster, we will likely see Odunze line up exclusively on the outside with D.J. Moore opposite and Keenan Allen in the slot. He gets to catch passes from one of the most exciting quarterback prospects in recent memory in Caleb Williams. It’s truly hard to overstate the difference between what Caleb Williams provides and the average quarterback. He has immense arm talent and will be able to create plays out of the pocket better than almost every quarterback in the NFL. As Justin Edwards added in his full breakdown of Caleb Williams
“Creating out-of-the-pocket was a common throughline during Williams’ college career, and the numbers back it up. According to Sports Info Solutions, 62 college quarterbacks attempted at least 50 passes from outside the pocket last season. Williams ranked first in passing yards (825) and touchdowns (11) while ranking third in yards per attempt (9.4) and fifth in their adjusted passer rating metric (IQR - 127.1).” On top of an insane ability to create and push the ball downfield, he was also good within structure. The Bears hired Shane Waldron to help provide a better structure for Caleb Williams and the Bears' offense to thrive from the get-go.
Rome Odunze’s Fantasy Football Outlook
On paper, Odunze’s competition looks stiff. D.J. Moore is a proven top-tier wideout while Keenan Allen has been a volume monster in the slot. Yet when you peel back the curtain, Keenan Allen is entering his age 32 season and has missed an average of four games per year over the past four years. If Keenan Allen were to miss any time, Odunze’s total target volume would improve substantially.
Even if both D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen stay healthy for the entire season, Odunze will never specifically draw teams' top corners and will have the opportunity for some massive games.
Early fantasy football drafts have him going in the late fourth to early fifth round. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that fall a bit to the early sixth by the time most people draft their teams. I will absolutely be buying at that price, especially in best ball leagues where you can focus more on the upside instead of the floor. His week-to-week consistency isn’t going to be high, but the ceiling is immense.
Bottom Line
- Rome Odunze was productive, tested well at the combine, and is a fantastic route-runner.
- His landing spot looks crowded on paper, but Keenan Allen isn’t a picture of health and he’ll never be bracketed or receive extra attention.
- Odunze has immediate upside in best ball leagues (Underdog ADP WR29, 5.03) and late-season upside in redraft leagues.
- Odunze's week-to-week floor may not be high but his weekly ceiling is immense.
