Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze has one objective he’d like to accomplish before the end of the season — get to the end zone more.
The 22-year-old rookie continues to be one of fellow rookie Caleb Williams’ favorite targets, entering Week 12 as the Bears’ second-leading receiver with 34 catches on 60 targets for 479 receiving yards.
However, he has just one touchdown, not catching a pass in the end zone since the team’s Week 3 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
“Definitely want to touch the end zone a little bit more,” says Odunze in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his partnership with Sharpie. “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.”
The No. 9 overall pick in the draft stresses the importance of getting in the end zone, which would help the team start to win games. The Bears are currently on a five-game losing streak after their 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12.
“(I) want to get in the end zone a little bit more and some different things I can do to continue to help that and make those plays,” says Odunze. “That would be a big thing, but as a whole, I just want to do my job to help this team win and minimize the mistakes and capitalize on the big plays.”
Odunze posted a solid game in the Bears’ comeback effort against the 9-2 Vikings. Despite trailing by 11 points with under two minutes remaining in the game, the Bears scored 11 points to force overtime. The 6-foot-3 receiver had two catches for 21 yards on the Bears’ drive to cut the deficit to three points with 22 seconds remaining.
While he had a solid game with five catches for 39 yards, he failed to find the end zone for the eighth straight game.
“I don’t think there’s anything that I can really point out to,” Odunze says when asked how he can score more touchdowns. “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.”
Odunze currently ranks fifth among all rookies with 39 receptions and is third with 70 targets. The number of targets certainly aren’t lacking, but the production and the touchdown totals should probably be a little bit higher for a player the caliber of Odunze.
The consensus All-American receiver led the NCAA with 1,640 receiving yards while posting 13 touchdowns during the 2023 season, helping lead the Washington Huskies to an undefeated record and an appearance in the National Championship Game.
However, things have been a grind this season, with the Bears going on a losing streak after a solid 4-2 start to the season. Three of their five losses during their losing skid have been one-possession games.
Caleb Williams' AND Rome Odunze's first career TD!
📺: #CHIvsIND on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/u0ICGLXCz7— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
Odunze admits that he learned real quickly how hard it is to win in the NFL as soon as the first game when the Bears overcame a 17-0 deficit to defeat the Tennessee Titans by a touchdown.
“I learned that from the very first game we played,” says Odunze. “It’s tough to win in this league and it always comes down to one possession. There’s no college blowouts or teams that you play that you’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to handle this team easily.’ Every single week it’s a challenge and great players playing and great coaches coaching. You have to bring your A game every single week and like my special teams coach says, that just gives you a chance and then you have to go make it happen.”
Although the Bears have had a string of tough defeats and have a tough schedule remaining — they’ll face the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving day before facing the San Francisco 49ers, the Vikings and the Lions — Odunze remains optimistic.
“I’m never going to get used to losing, whether it’s one game or where we’re sitting at now,” says Odunze. “It’s never a good feeling, never something that you want to get used to. It’s my job — along with everybody else in the building — to change that around and to get to a point where we are winning, winning games consistently and getting to a level where a loss feels like a smack to the face. It always does, but you know that those are things that we continue to work on and things that we’re all striving for, all putting the effort towards. Just got to get on the right side of the column.”
The Bears’ pair of star rookies have unsurprisingly had their ups-and-downs this season. While Williams has been impressive at times, with a four-touchdown performance in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and a two-touchdown, zero-interception stat line in a near-comeback against the Vikings in Week 12, he has also been stagnant. The No. 1 overall pick in the draft went four consecutive games without a touchdown before throwing for a pair against the Vikings.
However, he has been steady and has kept the interceptions to a minimum, with a 1.5% interception rate entering Week 12 — which ranks among the top 10 in the NFL.
“It’s awesome to play with Caleb because he’s a playmaker,” says Odunze. “Any given instant within a game he can be rolling out and making a spectacular play. He also does little things right from his reads to all those different things that a quarterback has to handle, which is a lot within the game. He continues to grow and keep that mindset as well. Being humble and wanting to continue to get better. That’s something I really appreciate. It’s awesome, he can make any throw on the field, so you have to be ready at all times. I think that’s something I’m really excited about.”
Odunze is partnering up with Sharpie for their “My Cause My Cleats” campaign. The campaign sees Odunze partnering up with the Boys & Girls Club of America to encourage youth development and expression. The Bears star rookie will wear cleats designed by Nicole, a 17-year-old Boys & Girls Club member. Nicole’s artwork was sketched and drawn using Sharpie products, such as S-Gel pens. She drew “what community meant to her in her everyday life and its impact on her surroundings.”
“Shout-to Nicole, was really creative about it,” says Odunze of Nicole’s design. “It turned out great again, using the Sharpie S-Gel pens as well as the creative markers, was something really special. She made it come to life with her artistic and creative mind and glad it all worked out. Excited about it and excited to show the world.”
