Rome Odunze began to book it.
The No. 9 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft saw his fellow Chicago Bears classmate moving.
With just over two minutes until halftime in a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Caleb Williams was spinning out of the pocket. The designed play was over. The fun was about to begin.
So Odunze raced down the left sideline, gradually separating from his defender. He realized there was no obstruction between him and the end zone, so he kept going.
Williams validated the decision, heaving a pass deep just outside the defender’s hands — and just into Odunze’s.
Forty-five yards. Seven from home. Williams would rush in a touchdown from the spare yards.
“A broken-down play where Caleb was making people miss in the backfield and I recognized it pretty early and was able to take the top off the defense and create some separation,” Odunze told Yahoo Sports over Zoom on Tuesday. “He hit me right in stride.
“Something that I think fans will be able to continue to expect out of us … hopefully more to come.”
Were such theatrics also something the Bears expected? Yes and no.
On one hand, Chicago drafted Williams first overall for his spectacular play-making, including out-of-structure plays like that 45-yard bomb. The team drafted Odunze, too, knowing that an out-of-structure quarterback needs an out-of-structure receiver as a key partner.
Odunze demonstrated that at Washington with quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
“One thing that did stand out was some of the different ability of [Odunze] to play down the field off schedule,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron told Yahoo Sports. “He was able to find voids and had some chunk plays that way.
“He was the guy that Penix was going to in those critical situations.”
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So the Williams-Odunze connection is not shocking.
But if the rookie duo can replicate such theatrics against more complex NFL defenses in the regular season, they will be showing something that was not a given. Because at the start of training camp, they were not yet on the same page.
The difference was on display during the Bears’ last unpadded practice of training camp, a segment of the NFL calendar that largely amounts to a passing camp.
During this July 25 session, play only tangentially resembled its final product and tackling was not yet in full force. But Williams and Odunze, who had thrown together some before the draft, were working to improve their chemistry.
Odunze was a regular target in team drills that day, Williams looking to him at varying route depths including deep. On shorter passes, they were successful. On go balls, less so. Odunze took full responsibility for a miss that likely more resembled the connection between the two than either player’s given responsibilities.
“I wanted to take the top off and have him throw the over-the-shoulder ball, but for him he’s reading wherever the defender is in a stacked position or he’s playing over the top for me,” Odunze told Yahoo Sports. “I need to do a little better job of my release and getting separation on that one, and marrying up with him on [which] he wants.
“Kinks we have time to work out.”
Williams and Odunze were indeed expected to have time, both because more than six weeks remained until the regular season and because Odunze joins a deep receiver room with veterans DJ Moore and Keenan Allen.
But by Week 2 of the preseason, clear strides had been taken.
“That’s definitely something I’ve improved on and it helped our chemistry,” Odunze said Tuesday, speaking in partnership with Levy, a Bears food, beverage and hospitality partner. “Me recognizing the space on the field. Recognizing there was no defender over the top of the defense, so just taking that space and allowing him to make the throw.
“Create a habit of always being ready for that to happen.”
Odunze credits Moore and Allen also for teaching him the nuances of overcoming leverage during camp. When should he reposition himself and when should he instead accept the leverage and “body” himself up against them to create a passing lane? The veterans have schooled him on each.
Williams, for his part, will have his choice of target during his NFL regular-season debut Sept. 8 against the Tennessee Titans.
Odunze predicts the Bears will feature an explosive passing game that maximizes Allen’s shiftiness and Moore’s physicality across the complete route tree. Odunze’s own versatile skill set could literally and figuratively take the cast over the top.
His word of warning to defensive coordinators?
“I don’t think it’s going to be possible to stop us,” Odunze said. “Just hopefully minimize some of the damage.”
