Close to an hour after the Bears drafted Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, they remained at their No. 9 pick to take Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze.
And the Bears' new quarterback offered an energetic response while watching backstage.
"Yeah! Hell yeah! I would've spiked this water but we got cameras. We got our guy. We got our guy!" Williams cheered.
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They did, indeed. Bears general manager Ryan Poles made it clear he wants to support Williams in every way possible by picking a wide receiver. Odunze joins an incredibly elite wide pass-catching core with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Cole Kmet.
The pairing of Williams and Odunze in the draft was the most prominently believed outcome for the Bears. In fact, Williams, Odunze, Moore and Allen recently met in Los Angeles for a throwing session.
Odunze prognosticated the prowess a Bears offense including him and Williams could have on the Under Center podcast, too.
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“I think it would be explosive, honestly," Odunze said of teaming up with Williams in Chicago. There are a lot of weapons on that field, and it would be hard for any defense to stop that honestly with any sort of double coverage or focusing on one defender, kind of like exactly what I had in Washington. I know how to fit into something like that.”
Odunze and Williams have talked about teaming up in Chicago, too.
"Yeah, definitely," Odunze said on the latest episode of The Under Center Podcast when asked if he and Williams have discussed teaming up. "I think he's a fan of my wide-receiver play, and I'm a fan of his quarterback play. We've chatted very smally about the possibility of it. Going into Chicago and not with any timidness but going in there to play ball and make an immediate impact which I think would be awesome if it ends up being the situation that both of us are in.