LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Rome Odunze and Caleb Williams were top 10 NFL draft picks from the same class. They came to the Bears together. They’ve worked together and repped it out both at Halas Hall and on their own, vowing to become one of the best quarterback/receiver duos to ever play.

They have become close friends throughout the process, which only strengthens the bond between individuals who must help each other be great. They’ll be together for five total seasons at least, maybe more if quality play earns extensions.

There’s chemistry between the two. Odunze is also someone who’s often the first man in the progression.

Those two sentences explain Odunze’s high target share even on a team with so many deserving of the football.

Odunze is getting targeted on 25.46% of his routes run, the highest on the team and the 17^th highest total in the league. The second-year Washington product is doing good things with it, totaling 31 receptions for 473 yards and five touchdowns heading into Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium.

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He’s coming off a strong game versus Baltimore, where he had seven receptions for 115 yards on 10 targets. Odunze’s on pace to get 75 catches for 1,148 yards and 12 touchdowns on 136 targets.

That would be a strong season and a marked improvement on his rookie season. Compare that to last season, when his target share was 17.8%, and he had 54 catches for 734 yards and three touchdowns. His yards per route run are nearly double.

That’s what Odunze expected to happen. He’s a confident individual who believes he can make big plays. He wants targets and believes he’ll make the most of them. With rare exception, Odunze has done that this season.

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Odunze is more assertive on the field this year and is maybe getting open more often, but his mental approach has never changed. He expects to be good. He expects to produce, just as he did in his rookie season.

“I feel like I’ve kept the same mindset throughout,” Odunze said in an interview with Marquee Sports Network. “I’ve always felt like I was an asset to this offense. Of course, when you have DJ (Moore) and Keenan (Allen in 2024), you play your role and understand that, but I was never lacking confidence in my ability and never felt like I had to take a backseat.

I respect everybody that’s in the (2025 receiver) room. We have great players, and I feel like I am an asset to this offense and I want to get the targets and make the plays that reflect that. It doesn’t come from a place of arrogance. I’m confident and I  do want to be a big part of this team’s success.”

That’s part of the reason why Williams trusts Odunze implicitly. It’s the reason why head coach/offensive play caller puts Odunze first in the progression on a regular basis.

“We vary who is the primary on all of our concepts, and that’s where as a play-caller when you have this many weapons, you wanna make sure you have all your weapons the primary a certain number of times on the call sheet,” Johnson said. “And when you call that play, coverage dictates whether the ball can go there or not. It’s been one of those things where the ones where Rome has been the primary, he’s been open quite a bit. It’s good to see that they do have that connection and that rapport.”

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Johnson prefers to spread the ball around and put his playmakers in positions to succeed. He has done that for the most part, with many contributing even on a team with Odunze and prolific veteran DJ Moore.

Odunze is playing like the top receiver he was expected to be and is clearly someone Williams trusts. That’s no accident, considering how much those two work at it.

“It’s practice reps, conversations and continue to build on what we’ve done,” Odunze said. “We’re still finding comfort in the scheme. It’s just our first year in this offense, so we’re playing it by the script right now. We trust Ben. But over time, if we feel like we have a good matchup we can exploit, we’d love to get to that level.”