The Chicago Bears selected Rome Odunze with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday night.
The Bears haven’t had a consistently reliable deep threat in many years. Poles has tried to fill the void with draft picks like Velus Jones Jr. and Tyler Scott, but neither guy has performed convincingly in the role, in an admittedly small sample size. Either guy still has time to develop into the deep threat that the Bears imagined when they picked them, but Odunze becomes the best young vertical option on the team, immediately.
Even though Odunze was the third wide receiver off the board in the draft, few pass catchers can match his 2023 output. Check out his resumé from last season among WRs with 100 targets: 1,639 yards (1st), 74 first downs (1st), 21 contested catches (1st), 75% contested catch rate (1st), 15.5-yard average depth of target (2nd), 13 TDs (t-4th), 3.2% drop rate (6th).
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Odunze now joins Caleb Williams as a young cornerstone in the new-look Bears offense.
The Bears have two more remaining picks in this year's draft, No. 75 and No. 122.