Wide receiver Rome Odunze of the Washington Huskies talks with wide receiver Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers.
At pick No. 9, the Chicago Bears will have a chance to select one of the top wide receivers available in the 2024 NFL Draft. They will have a meeting with that guy early next week.
The Bears and a few other teams will invite wideout Rome Odunze of the Washington Huskies for a pre-draft meeting in the coming days, according to Brady Henderson of ESPN’s NFL Nation on Thursday, March 28.
Bears Have Shot to Select Rome Odunze if Draft Dominoes Fall Just Right
GettyWide receiver Rome Odunze of the Washington Huskies.
Odunze might not even be available for draft selection before Chicago has the opportunity to select him because the Cardinals pick at No. 4 and the Giants pick at No. 6. The fact that the team is making the effort to host the receiver, though, indicates that it thinks Odunze has a chance to go to No. 9 and that the Bears will be fairly motivated to select him should that happen.
The order of the top four or five picks might be affected by a number of trade situations, as teams like the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos may want to move up for a quarterback. Additionally, wideouts Malick Nabers of LSU and Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State are present.
“The Giants don’t have a real No. 1 man who can dominate on the outside, but they have strengthened their receiving corps over the previous two years—Darius Slayton, Josh Hyatt, and Wan’Dale Robinson are currently their top three players,” Kiper said. “They could add that in Odunze, a 6-foot-3 frame that is a touchdown machine.”
However, even though trades are expected to happen eventually, Kiper’s estimates do not account for them. Odunze might end up falling to Chicago at No. 9 if one of the three teams choosing between 4-6 moves off their pick for a king’s ransom, which is a plausible possibility.
Rome Odunze’s Status as 3rd-Best Wideout in Draft Class May Benefit Bears
GettyWide receiver Rome Odunze of the Washington Huskies.
Kiper and other well-known NFL pundits, however, rank Harrison and Nabers as this year’s top two receiver prospects, respectively, in the class.
Adam Schefter of ESPN wrote to X on Wednesday, stating, “There are some NFL personnel men who believe Malik Nabers is this draft class’ top wideout.”
Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that the Chargers trade with the Vikings for the No. 5 pick and that Kiper sees the remainder of the draft unfold. In that case, clubs would choose two wide receivers, Harrison and Nabers, in whatever order, at picks Nos. 4 and 6. clubs would also select four quarterbacks and two wideouts from the top six picks.
Kiper predicts the Tennessee Titans will take a left tackle at No. 7 and the Atlanta Falcons will pick the best edge rusher on their board at No. 8. That would leave Odunze for Chicago at No. 9, and he might simply be too elite of a talent to pass up that low in the draft.
The Bears may use Odunze’s worth to move up from the ninth pick, particularly if they want to keep Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen, whom they acquired earlier in March in exchange for a fourth-round pick from the Los Angeles Chargers. However, the opportunity to combine Odunze with USC quarterback Blake Williams, who is projected to be Chicago’s first overall choice, and DJ Moore could be too intriguing to pass up.
