Chicago Bears insider noted Rome Odunze’s future in doubt

Things can change quickly in the NFL, and Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze is on the hot seat in training camp.

Odunze, the No. 9 pick in the 2024 draft, is facing a pivotal year in Year 3 while coming off of a stress fracture in his left foot. The receiver told reporters this spring that he has a “new normal” after the injury.

This is my new normal,” Odunze said. “And it’s not from a standpoint that I’m always in pain, but the way my foot broke, there’s callouses in there that create a different type of foot structure with those bones — different types of things that kind of shift things around.

“So my new normal is kind of what I am going into.”

Courtney Cronin of ESPN named Odunze as one of five players that have the most to show in training camp this summer. Luther Burden III had a phenomenal rookie season, and he could usurp Odunze as the WR1 after DJ Moore was traded to the Buffalo Bills this offseason.

“If Odunze’s “new normal” allows him to live up to his status as the No. 9 draft pick, then his career trajectory will continue moving upward,” Cronin wrote. “But with a hungry Luther Burden III also eyeing the distinction as the Bears’ top wideout, Odunze has to prove he can cement himself in that role.”