The Chicago Bears made the expected — and obvious — pick when they selected quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Now comes the hard part of building around him.
They took a big step toward doing that and giving him some help with their second pick in the first round when they selected Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze with the No. 9 overall pick.
Odunze was regarded as one of the best wide receivers in one of the deepest wide receiver classes in recent memory. With him in the mix the Bears might legitimately have one of the best wide receiver groups in the NFL.
Odunze is joining a wide receiver room that already includes D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen.
The Bears added Moore a year ago as part of the 2023 draft trade with the Carolina Panthers that also landed the Bears the pick that resulted in this year's No. 1 overall pick.
Allen was acquired in a trade with the Chargers when Los Angeles had to go through a salary cap purge earlier in the offseason.
While Moore and Allen are excellent veteran receivers to have around a young rookie quarterback, Odunze is the player that has a chance to really transform the Bears' offense. Odunze caught 92 passes for 1,640 yards this past season for a Washington team that reached the national championship game.
The Bears were 26th in the NFL in passing yards per game in 2023 and needed to dramatically improve that to compete and complement a defense that took big strides in the second half of the season.
With a potential franchise quarterback and now a loaded group of wide receivers they have no excuse not to improve.
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