The Chicago Bears drafted Rome Odunze because they saw a special player. He not only had loads of talent but his work ethic and personal drive were two things they constantly prioritized in every player they selected. His outstanding year for Washington in 2023 spoke for itself. The only question for many was whether he could carry that over into his rookie season. Most people have kept their focus on Marvin Harrison Jr. in Arizona and Malike Nabers in New York, not because they were picked ahead of Odunze but because each will likely be the primary target for their respective quarterbacks immediately.
However, former scout and top draft expert Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network sees it differently. He stated on The Rich Eisen Show that Odunze has an opportunity people aren’t seeing. Defenses will be focused on one thing going into this season: not letting D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen go off. Those two are sure to keep defensive coordinators up all week trying to game-plan ways to stop them. Nobody realizes what this means for Odunze. Lots and lots of single coverage.
Rome Odunze won’t have the same obstacles as other rookies.
Once it becomes clear how dangerous Harrison and Nabers are, defenses will start devoting extra coverage to containing them. That won’t happen with Odunze. At least not unless opponents are content leaving Moore or Allen one-on-one, which is tantamount to suicide. This is why the Bears drafted Odunze in the first place. Their entire goal was to stress defenses as much as possible. That meant providing quarterback Caleb Williams with an abundance of weapons. One of the issues with previous teams is they didn’t have the firepower to force defenses to defend everywhere.
They pinpointed who the primary target was, rolled coverages their way, and too often, nobody else could step up to take advantage. That won’t be the case this year, not if everybody stays healthy. Rome Odunze beat single coverage to death at Washington. There is no reason to think he can’t do the same in the NFL, especially when he is likely to face the third-best cornerback every opponent has. It is another reminder of why the Bears knew what they were doing when selecting him.
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And . . . . this is why coaching physically talented, but technique challenged players is necessary when done and a huge problem when not done.
The mismatches will add up in the playoffs and further.
Love the analysis of DB and coverage defenders, but on the other side, why the Bears offense is so often a disaster.
Creating stress mismatches both in the trenches and at the skill positions matters.
@Arnie, that doesn’t work very well when you are facing 3 #1 WR’s, because not only are you outmanned when you also have a top #10 TE and a top tier passing RB. DC’s will be faced with playing man to man across the board when they scheme against the Bears. If you try to double team Allen and Moore, then Odunze is left 1 on 1 and that is a battle Odunze will excel at time and time again. But then you have to pick your poison between C Kmet, Everett, Lewis or Swift out of the backfield. There… Read more »
The bubble headed bleach blonde comes on at 5, she can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye. Wonder why that shits in my head already. Ought to be an interesting day. Lol
Odunze should have a good year. Bears have to many WRs. I mean if Moore and Allen get their 1000 yards, and Odunze has a good year, that’s about 3000 yards of passing. Thats without throwing in the TEs, RBs and other players. So basically, Williams is going to have to throw for over 4000 yards to keep everyone happy. That would be nice. Thats where I have the feeling Allen is a one and done player. Not in all my years of being a Bears fan have I ever even thought about anything close to this scenario
JMHO, but the Bills were primed for a SB run until Tre’Davious White tore his ACL in the playoffs. He was balling out like a CB should, but it’s a higher velocity impact position, so it’s dangerous to tie up a lot of money into the CB position. Safety is different and it’s wise to lock up a solid tackling vet like the Pats had with McCourty to limit the big play. EJax sucked, and I’m grateful he is gone. If Kmet and Everett can be dynamic getting into their routes, that will open up the triangle b/w the TE,… Read more »