WR Rome Odunze, Washington (Round 1, Pick 9)
Picked 9th overall in last year’s draft, Rome Odunze was expected to be a big contributor for this Chicago Bears offense right off the bat. Even with the other weapons like D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen at their disposal, Poles thought it was necessary to get another big target for his rookie quarterback.
Odunze started off the season strong, as his breakout performance against the Colts turned heads, where he caught 6 passes for 112 yards while hauling in his first career touchdown. It was just one of the two times all year he’d break 100 receiving yards, and Odunze really showed his potential in both of those games.
He finished his rookie season with 54 catches, 734 yards and 3 touchdowns. Not a massive season by any means, but in this offense that struggled so mightily at times, it can be looked at as a positive note.
An alarming stat that comes up when discussing Odunze is his separation rate, which ranked at the bottom of the league amongst qualifying rookie wide outs. This could obviously be a scheme issue, but other receivers in poor offenses like Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. did not seem to have the same problem.
While it was a safe selection to add another wide out, Poles missed out on better talent such as Brock Bowers, Dallas Turner, and one of my favorites last draft season, Jared Verse. Didn’t love it then, don’t love it now.
Grade: C+
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