Following D.J. Moore’s departure, Chicago needs a healthy Rome Odunze to lead a young receiving corps. His recovery from a foot injury remains the franchise’s biggest wildcard.
The Chicago Bears lost a few players at receiver this offseason.
Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay are now with different teams after leaving the Bears in free agency.
The Bears then traded D.J. Moore to the Buffalo Bills for a second-round pick. At the end of the day, trading Moore was a good decision for the Bears.
It got his contract off the books and saved them $16.5 million in cap space. Moore's production had also taken a decline ever since he joined the team in 2023 in the trade that gave the Carolina Panthers the No. 1 overall pick in that year's draft.
Moore had 1,364 receiving yards in 2023, followed by 966 in 2024 and 682 in 2025.
As it stands, the Bears' top receivers ahead of training camp are Rome Odunze, Luther Burden and Kalif Raymond.
Odunze is back for his third year with the franchise, while Burden enters year two after showing a lot of promise as a rookie. Raymond joined the Bears from the Detroit Lions in free agency and brings a return specialist to the roster, but he can also be used as a slot receiver.
Odunze is primed to be the WR1 once again for the Bears, but he hasn't looked like his old self lately.
Last season, he dealt with a stress fracture in his foot that kept him off the field for most of the second half of the year. Because of the injury, he only played in 12 games and accounted for 661 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
After Wednesday's OTA session, head coach Ben Johnson went to the podium.
Odunze has been a topic of discussion recently after saying he is still getting used to his new normal following the injury. Johnson was asked whether there were any concerns about Odunze's ability to return to form in light of this.
Johnson didn't sound very worried, which is great news for the Bears.
"No, that's nothing new to me," Johnson said. "He's out there. He says he feels great. He looks good to me. We go back and forth with the coaching staff, and he looks like the same old Rome. So, I think we're in good shape."
It's not only important that Odunze gets back to the player he was once after this injury, but also necessary for the Bears' success.
Outside of Raymond, Odunze is the most experienced receiver at the position for Chicago. Moore is no longer with the team.
If Odunze goes down with another injury like he did last season, the receiver room could be in bad shape. We saw how much different things looked when he was out of the lineup.
In both meetings against the Green Bay Packers, the Bears were without Odunze. Burden and Moore stepped up in a big way, but now the veteran isn't around to pick up the slack.
The Bears desperately need a healthy version of Odunze on the field this season, especially now that the team is playing a first-place schedule.
The Bears play their regular divisional opponents and take on the AFC East and NFC South. The Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars are also mixed in.
Without Odunze back to his old self, it could be rough for the Bears. The time is now for him to return to form.
