When asked about a young player who stood out the most during early OTAs and minicamps, head coach Matt Eberflus didn’t need long to think about it. He stated it was Rome Odunze. Despite such a short period, the 9th overall pick showed rapid progress in his understanding of the responsibilities and route-running requirements in the new Chicago Bears offense. Part of that comes from his obsessive work ethic. He recites a play on the practice field, goes to where he’s supposed to line up, runs motions, and everything else. It is a unique process for such a young player to have.
The results speak for themselves. Eberflus isn’t the only one who has noticed. Keenan Allen admitted his surprise at how fast the rookie is learning. Courtney Cronin of ESPN caught his comments.
“He’s been with the 1s right off the bat,” Allen said in June. “He’s running around pretty good. His routes — he knows what he’s doing — his responsibilities.
“… We haven’t even got to training camp and he already kind of knows where to go, where to line up, where to be at. So that’s huge.”
Allen knows a thing or two about getting off to fast starts in a career. He had over 1,000 yards as a rookie in 2013. If anybody can recognize when a young guy is doing things the right way, it would be him. This also bodes well for the offense as a whole. We already know Allen and D.J. Moore will be good. It was merely a question of how fast Odunze could develop. Apparently not long.
Talent isn’t the reason he became a top-10 pick in the draft. Talk to anybody who knew him in high school and college, and they would say it’s his drive, work ethic, and sheer will that propelled him to do great things. His self-confidence is evident every time you listen to him speak. It isn’t arrogance. It is simply a calm understanding that if you give him an opportunity, he is going to make the play. That comes from countless hours of hard work preparing for any and all situations on the football field.
If Rome Odunze gets off to the same kind of start Allen did over a decade ago, the Bears offense will be a nightmare to deal with. Having one receiver capable of 1,000 yards is hard enough to defend. Having three is borderline unfair. That is before you talk about the threat of Cole Kmet, who has morphed into one of the NFL’s better tight ends. It feels like the first time in many years Bears fans can be excited about the offense. Odunze can’t wait to validate those feelings.
