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ESPN lists Bears’ WR Rome Odunze as 2025 fantasy football breakout player

Chicago Bears WR Rome Odunze is a favorite to enjoy a breakout 2025 season.

Published

5 months ago

July 6, 2025

Bryan Perez

ESPN lists Bears' WR Rome Odunze as 2025 fantasy football breakout player (News)

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Life is good for Chicago Bears skill players. They’re all the rage in 2025 NFL breakout predictions. Whether it’s Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, or Rome Odunze, the Bears’ offense is a popular choice for big numbers this season.

It’s no secret why. The hiring of Ben Johnson as head coach has Chicago’s stock as high as it’s been in many, many years. His mastery of NFL offense is expected to take Williams’ game to the next level. And, as a result, Moore and Odunze should be the biggest beneficiaries.

Odunze is an especially popular pick to break out in 2025. The 2024 ninth overall pick had a pedestrian rookie season last year, but his talent remains too high to assume he won’t develop into a potential 100-catch, 1,300-yard pass catcher in the NFL.

ESPN apparently thinks so, too.

In a recent article predicting which players will take advantage of an increased workload in 2025, Odunze ranked among the wide receivers as a breakout candidate.

5 minutes of Rome Odunze highlights for the birthday boy pic.twitter.com/50lY8cq0T3

— SleeperBears (@SleeperBears) June 3, 2025

“As a rookie, Ozunze ranked 11th in the NFL with 13 red-zone targets, more than fellow first-year wideouts Brian Thomas Jr. (12) and Malik Nabers (11), A.J. Brown (11), CeeDee Lamb (10) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (10), to name a few,” ESPN’s Eric Moody wrote. “Only three of those targets turned into touchdowns, but it seems fair to expect positive regression in that area.

“Now in a Ben Johnson offense with Caleb Williams entering his second season, and a plethora of targets available, Odunze has the profile of a second-year breakout with true WR2 upside.”

READ: Bears WR DJ Moore should see boost in production as a result of this key factor

Odunze finished his rookie season with 54 catches for 734 yards and three touchdowns. He was hamstrung by Keenan Allen, who, despite clearly losing his battle to Father Time in 2024, was still second on the team in targets. Now, with all of those looks available, Odunze is a logical breakout favorite.

However, it’s not that clear-cut. The Bears added two new challengers for touches in 2025 via the NFL Draft. First-round pick Colston Loveland and second-round pick Luther Burden both offer more upside than Allen did last year, making each of them an appealing look for Williams in Johnson’s revamped scheme.

But if the Bears” evaluation of Odunze was correct, the arrival of Loveland and Burden shouldn’t impact his role all that much. In fact, if Odunze doesn’t go well over 1,000 yards and approach 10 touchdowns in 2025, his second season will be viewed as a disappointment.