Bear Digest

Bears 2024 Training Camp Preview: Rome Odunze Completes the Set

Wide Receivers: With Rome Odunze joining veterans DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, very few NFL receiver corps can match the Bears for top-end talent and it's also a group with depth.

Gene Chamberlain

DJ Moore did a solo act at Bears wide receiver last year and this year he has help.
DJ Moore did a solo act at Bears wide receiver last year and this year he has help. / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
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When DJ Moore came into the NFL he had Cam Newton as starting quarterback and hauled in 55 passes for 788 yards in a season when running back Christian McCaffrey caught 107 passes for Carolina.

One year later with Kyle Allen starting 12 games and Will Grier and Cam Newton splitting the other four, Moore caught 87 passes for 1,175 yards. He made adjusting from throws by a running quarterback to a rookie who was more of pocket passer look easy.

In 2019, QB Philip Rivers played his 16th and final season for the L.A. Chargers and Keenan Allen caught 104 passes. A year later, with rookie Justin Herbert at QB and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt getting fired at midseason, Allen caught 100 passes.

Obviously the Bears veteran receivers are the type who have seen it all and done it all. They're not going to be bothered by the new quarterback, new offense, new anything.

And the new Bears wide receiver has them to learn from, if his own quarterback is lacking the experience to help with adjustments.

"I think it'd not even measurable what they're able to, you know the impact they can make on my career just being in the room with them for, shoot, I'm losing track of days here, you know four weeks I've already learned so much so to be in a room with them," Odunze said.

If more guidance is needed for the rookie, wide receivers coach Chris Beatty has coached Moore in college and Allen with the Chargers.

"He's one of the first guys I talked to, and just him being here made it a lot more comfortable, just not having to adjust to another guy who I'm going to see every day, who's going to talk to me every day," Allen said. "We already have an understanding of the way I go through the week. He knows how I want to practice. He knows when and when not to with me, so it's great."

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Beatty thinks of Moore like he's "...like my nephew or something like that," Moore said. "So we've always talked all throughout his days in the pros. So when we played the Bears last year, we were able to see each other again for the first time in a while. And when I got back here, it was like, we never left. I love DJ. He's like family to me."

Beatty sees this mentors-students relationship starting on the field for Odunze already with all of this help.

"At the end of the day, I don't know if you can get two better mentors—and two different skillsets," Beatty said. "DJ is like a bull in a china shop, and Keenan is like paint the edges on Picasso.

"At the end of the day, you get every angle. And Rome is kind of in between. There are times when he's rugged and rough like DJ and then there's part of his game that's intricate like Keenan. At the end of the day, I think he can learn from both of them because his skillset is a little bit in between them, and it gives him a chance to be able to learn from two of the best in the business."

Bears Wide Receivers Outlook

Starters: No. 2 DJ Moore, No 13 Keenan Allen, No. 15 Rome Odunze*

Backups: No. 10 Tyler Scott, No. 12 Velus Jones Jr., No. n/a DeAndre Carter, No. 81 Dante Pettis.

Roster Hopefuls: No. 83 Nsimba Webster, NO. 86 Freddie Swain, No. 82 Peter LeBlanc, No. 80 Collin Johnson, No. 26 John Jackson

Strengths: It's all covered. They have deep targets in Moore, Odunze and Jones, shorter routes with Allen, Carter Scott and Pettis. The slot is Allen unless they're in two-receiver sets and then he moves outside. They have taller receivers with athletic ability in Odunze and Allen to go up after 50-50 throws.

Weaknesses: If there is one, it's top-end proven receiver speed. Jones is their fastest receiver at 4.31 in the 40 but hasn't been a factor as a receiver in two seasons. Next fastest might be Moore and Scott, with Odunze close behind. 

Bottom Line: This is the most complete group of receivers in Bears history and one of the top three or four groups in the NFL.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.