Rome Odunze Scouting Report        

Rome Odunze’s size, speed, and production profile stand out in a loaded WR class.

But with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers garnering national attention, dynasty managers often label Odunze a second-tier option.

After two 1,000-yard seasons and dominant play in the Pac-12, should Odunze be considered as good as – if not better than – the top two options?

Let’s evaluate Odunze’s profile and see if he can be truly elite for the Bears and dynasty teams.

Rome Odunze Draft Profile

Rome Odunze Combine Results

Percentiles vs Combine wide receivers since 1999, per MockDraftable

Rome Odunze College Stats

Elite High School Athlete

Odunze attended a premier high school football program at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.

He broke his collarbone as a sophomore in 2017, missing most of that season. He persevered after the injury to become a starter as a junior and dominated for his final two years:

• 118 receptions
• 2,669 yards
• 31 touchdowns

Odunze attended The Opening Regional as a junior and put up excellent workout numbers:

• 4.55-second 40 time
• 4.00 shuttle
• 33.8-inch vertical

Well on his way to NFL numbers, Odunze got recruited heavily as a four-star prospect. Alabama and Washington pursued him hard, but Odunze opted to stay closer to home with the Huskies.

Odunze Breaks Out Early

After redshirting his first year, Odunze worked his way up the depth chart in 2021. He earned a starting role by midseason and became a focal point of the passing game.

Odunze led the receiving group in athleticism, paced the team with 41 receptions, and tied for the team lead with 4 TDs. 

After a 4-8 record and run-heavy offense, Washington changed to Kalen DeBoer new HC to open things up.

Odunze Dominates in New Offense

With more four and five-WR sets – often stacked to one side – Odunze drew single coverage from opposing defenses. Once the offense started to jell, Odunze broke out with four straight games of 8+ receptions and 100+ yards. 

Transfer QB Michael Penix Jr. peppered Odunze with 110 targets. Fellow WR Jalen McMillan also topped 100 targets. The Huskies’ passing game led the country with 369.8 yards per game.

And that offensive core on offense returned for 2023.

Playoff Bound

Odunze started the 2023 season strong. In the first four games, he totaled:

• 26 catches
• 544 yards
• 4 TDs

Odunze suffered a broken rib and punctured his lung in his fifth game, however. He would play through the injuries all season and never miss a game.

Washington’s high-flying offense led to an undefeated regular season. 

Odunze garnered plenty of focus from the Texas and Michigan defenses in the college football playoff. He would fail to record a TD in those games despite finding ways to get open. 

Odunze performed well enough to cement his status as one of the best WRs in college football. Against ranked teams, he averaged:

• 8 catches
• 101.2 yards
• 1 TD

Odunze was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award (nation’s top WR) and even earned Heisman votes.

Rome Odunze Highlights

Games watched: UCLA (2022), Oregon (2022), Texas (2022), Boise State (2023), Michigan State (2023), Cal (2023), Arizona (2023), Oregon (2023), Texas (2023), Michigan (2023)

Odunze’s highlight reel is exceptional. The sheer number of amazing receptions and big TDs pop off the film.

But, will these skills translate to the NFL?

Odunze has Ball Skills

Odunze’s ability to locate and catch the ball is unmatched in this class. 

He tracks the ball well and makes necessary adjustments on the fly. Odunze also possesses the body control to catch inaccurate passes.

He dominates one-on-one situations against corners who lacke the football IQ to keep up.

In the clip below, Odunze is well-covered, but his ball skills come to the rescue. Penix overthrows Odunze with the ball seemingly out of reach. 

Odunze identifies this quickly and makes a leaping catch over the back of the corner.

Having size and speed is great, but having the ball skills to utilize those makes a huge difference. Odunze threatens to catch any pass within his large radius.

Contested-Catcher Extraordinaire

There are quite a few clips where Odunze doesn’t get clean separation in coverage. But, he overcomes this by being physical in his routes and catching contested passes.

Odunze uses his size to box out defenders and create a clean lane to receive the ball. In the end zone, he often utilizes his back-shoulder strength to keep the corner away while catching a TD.

Odunze does exactly that In the clip below.

Penix throws a great pass and Odunze not only keeps the defender cheating inside, but also boxes him out. This results in an easy TD catch.

Odunze’s film is littered with sideline catches where he holds DBs off the boundary. In the middle of the field, he also can go over smaller corners for big plays. 

Odunze Perfects His Catch Technique

An underrated trait for WR prospects is clean catch technique. Extending the arms and hands to make a catch away from the body is becoming more rare. But, having good technique reduces mistakes and drops.

Odunze utilizes good catch technique when he is uncontested, keeping the ball away from his body.

In the clip below, Odunze turns backward when he hits the hole between the nickel and safety. The ball is already approaching, but Odunze still extends to catch it cleanly.

He is tackled immediately, but the catch technique and strength allow Odunze to keep hold of the ball.

Keep in mind that Odunze was playing the season with a broken rib and still used appropriate technique.

Odunze has Route-Running Issues

The Washington offense was a bit gimmicky. They often stacked one side of the formation with three or four WRs to create mismatches.

This tended to let Odunze go one-on-one with a DB. Odunze should have easily been able to separate for wide-open catches again and again. I found too much film of Odunze just not gaining that separation, however.

Odunze’s athleticism wasn’t the issue.

He just didn’t run clean routes. He often rounded off his routes and displayed sloppy footwork.

In the clip below, Odunze comes off the line in a slant, then breaks inward when he gets to the end zone. He rounds off his transition to the in while being passed off to another DB. 

Penix throws the ball anticipating a sharper angle and quicker movement to the spot. Instead, Odunze falls short due to his lack of route precision.

Route-running is a correctable issue with some coaching and a new system, but it does raise a small red flag. If Odunze struggled to get clean separation in college, will he be able to do so in an NFL-style system?

Rome Odunze Team Fit: Chicago Bears

The Bears continued to bolster their offensive weapons for Caleb Williams.

Odunze fits the offense perfectly.

Shane Waldron came from Seattle, but his system takes pieces from Sean McVay’s Rams scheme. 

Waldron utilizes varying route combinations to create one-on-one matchups in the slot and down the field. If the QB can identify those pre-snap, they make for easier first-read throws.

Combining Odunze with D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen allows Waldron to set up up his offense perfectly in Year 1.

Odunze will play a similar role to D.K. Metcalf as a downfield threat who utilizes his speed and strength to win. This allows Allen and Moore to run underneath routes in the short and medium areas.

Similar to Metcalf, Odunze’s production could be inconsistent. But if teams aren’t keying in on him, there will be big games. With Allen likely being a short-term rental, Odunze’s target share should continue to grow as his career progresses.