Bears’ Ben Johnson reveals offseason emphasis for Rome Odunze after down season

The Chicago Bears are looking for ways to improve this offseason on the heels of their strong 2025 campaign, which saw them defy expectations by winning the NFC North and making it to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. The team has already opted to shake things up this winter by trading wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for draft compensation.

With this move, there will be more pressure on some of Chicago’s younger receivers to step up, including 2024 first round draft pick Rome Odunze, who suffered through a tough sophomore slump at the NFL level.

Recently, Bears head coach Ben Johnson revealed what the emphasis has been for Odunze this offseason as he looks to bounce back.

“That’s something we’ll talk about. I don’t think that was a thing for him coming out. I don’t want to speak that into existence. That’s something we’re going to emphasize in the spring: getting back to basics,” said Johnson, per Dan Wiederer of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter.

There’s certainly no doubting the talent level of Odunze, who burst onto the national scene as a standout receiver for the Washington Huskies during their run to the 2023-24 national championship game, having squared off against USC rival and current Bears teammate Caleb Williams in the days of the Pac-12.

Now, Odunze will look to recapture that success at the NFL level for a Bears team that is hoping to avoid what happened to last year’s Washington Commanders, a team that saw a similar surprise run before fading back into NFL oblivion.

In any case, the NFL Draft is slated to take place in late April, at which point the Bears will look to continue to add to their talented roster.

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