In case you missed it, Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze suffered an MCL injury that has been categorized as a “week-to-week” thing and puts his playing status for the team’s upcoming games up in the air. I don’t imagine the Bears will be foolish enough to rush him back into the lineup. And yet, I wonder how the Bears will make up for Odunze’s absence. Certainly, I’m not alone in thinking about this right now.
With that in mind, I started jotting down some ideas for an exercise in figuring out what Chicago’s football team can do to fill in the gaps while Rome Odunze is on the shelf.
More Cole Kmet, please
For starters, perhaps the Bears can play their big-money tight end more than 27 sꦫnaps.
Cole Kmet was in on just 48 percent of the Bears’ offensive snaps in the Bears’ Week 1 win against the Tennessee Titans. To give that number some additional context, Kmet was in on 77 percent of the team’s offensive snaps in 2023. And if you’ll recall, Kmet made the most of that snap share as he set new career bests in receptions (73) and yards (719) while scoring six touchdowns. There wasn’t a lot that went right with Justin Fields in the passing department last year. But good things happened when he targeted Kmet.
Last year, Justin Fields posted a 115.4 passer rating and threw 4 touchdowns to just 1 interception when tossing it to his top tight end target. That type of production combined with Kmet’s continued growth gave me hope that Caleb Williams could put up similar (if not, better) numbers. However, that isn’t going to happen if Kmet is getting just one target on game day. And while I understand that Gerald Everett has familiarity with the offense, that alone isn’t enough to justify the veteran tight end out-snapping Kmet by a 34-27 count. But if Rome Odunze is out for a while, perhaps this gives Kmet a path to getting more snaps in Week 2 (and beyond).
Looking back to the breakdown of the Shane Waldron hire as the Bears’ new offensive coordinator, Patrick points out that the Seattle Seahawks were in 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) on 26 percent of their first-down snaps. Putting Kmet and Everett on the field together with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen is the type of thing that could give opposing defensive coordinators fits — both in preparing for the Bears and on game day.
Time to lean heavily on DJ Moore and Keenan Allen
There is no reason to get too complicated here. DJ Moore is awesome. He has posted 1,100+ yard receiving seasons in four of the last five seasons. In two of the last three years, Moore has snagged at least 93 receptions. Since the start of the 2019 season, Moore has *AVERAGED* 134 targets. When you have a playmaker like Moore on your roster, there should be no hesitation to feed him the rock. And if you’re a Bears offense that will be missing Rome Odunze, then leaning on DJ Moore should be something the team should be leaning into and not straying away from until further notice.
And if that doesn’t work, then Keenan Allen is right there to lend a helping hand.
Allen’s résumé — headlined by six Pro Bowls, six 1,000-yard receiving seasons, five years with 100+ catches, and eight campaigns with at least 100 targets — is even better than what his stud teammate can boast. In addition to the statistical stuff Allen can point to, he also proved that he can be a developing rookie QB’s best friend. Rookie Justin Herbert completed 69.1 percent of his passes, threw for 955 yards and 8 touchdowns while posting a 92.5 passer rating when targeting Allen in 2020. I don’t see anything wrong with Waldron cooking up a game plan that goes heavy with Allen targets.
And if that happens𝓡, then I hopꦿe Rome Odunze takes copious notes while he is out.
Is this an opportunity for Tyler Scott?
Tyler Scott was a healthy scratch in Week 1. Scott appearing on the list of game-day inactive might have raised some eyebrows. Then again, somebody had to be the odd-man out when the team trimmed the 53-man roster to 46 for game day. But with Rome Odunze out of action, this could be how Scott makes his way into the lineup. The second-year receiver didn’t do much in Year 1, but I can still hold out hope that his speed and ability to leverage that juice to create separation is something that could come in handy on Sundays.
MORE: Everything You Need t✃o Know About 2023 🦄Fourth-Round Pick Tyler Scott
If all else fails, maybe Scott can help in the return game. The Velus Jones Jr. Experience 3.0 got off on the wrong foot, leading the Bears to move Khalil Herbert into VJJ’s space as a kick returner. I can see a scenario in which Scott carves a niche as a special teams contributor, then uses that to climb up the wide receiver depth chart.
Spare parts…
Oof. There is no easy way to replace Rome Odunze, who ESPN’s Mike Clay had forecasted a 60-catch, 805-yard, 6-touchdown season .
There is a part of me that wishes Velus Jones Jr. was trustworthy enough to slide into a WR3 role. Unfortunately, Jones has done nothing to show he is worthy of such an assignment. Sigh. Losing Rome Odunze stinks.
Did you see Marcedes Lewis lined up in the slot in Week 1? I did. Sure, it made me chuckle. But I can’t take an offense seriously when it deploys a 40-year-old tight end in the slot. Sorry, I’m not sorry.
The Bears practice squad has two receivers: Preseason standout Collin Johnson and former Packers pass-catcher Samori Toure. I’m not trying to see the Bears lean into practice squad players as Caleb Williams’ development continues. But maybe one of these players can practice their way into a spot where they are flexed onto the game day roster. Stay tuned.
Please come back soon, Rome Odunze. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
