The start of the 2024 NFL Draft is just two days away and the Chicago Bears? plans remain a mystery.
Not with the No. 1 overall pick. That is a foregone conclusion to be Caleb Williams despite General Manager Ryan Poles? insistence that the wait continues into draft night. En route to the event, Williams took notice of one of his fellow passengers: Washington wideout Rome Odunze.
Williams? sentiments about the encounter are sure to rile up fans.
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?Oh s*** yall I just saw Rome Odunze on my flight to Detroit!!? Williams posted on X on April 23, attaching a laughing face emoji. ?Big fan!?
As if that weren?t enough, Odunze quipped back.
?I?m actually the pilot this morning. Don?t worry I?ll get Caleb to Detroit SAFELY!,? Odunze posted. ?#nosoulshaveperished?
Nothing is inherently spectacular about the two projected first-round picks being on the same flight. Both players are coming from the West Coast to attend the same event. Still, their chemistry appealed to fans in the comments and led to a potentially telling revelation.
“Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze didn?t just take the same flight to Detroit for the draft: I?m told Odunze recently caught balls from Williams ? who also was throwing with #Bears WRs Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore. Chicago owns the Nos. 1 and 9 picks, and hosted Odunze on a visit,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on X on April 23.
“The Bears hold the No. 9 overall pick in addition to No. 1.”
Odunze is widely projected to go before then, perhaps even in the mix for a top-five selection along with fellow wideouts Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers.
There is expected to be a run on quarterbacks at the top, with up to four projected to be selected in the top four picks in some mocks. That could benefit the Bears, pushing one of the receivers ? specifically Odunze or Nabers, who caught Williams? eye with his pro day ? to them.
Some have speculated that the Bears could trade up to secure a receiver. But with a franchise-record low four picks in the draft ? the fewest of the cycle ? it makes more sense to trade down from No. 9 to recoup some picks.
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Of course, it?s Poles? discretion to use those picks as he sees fit. He has aggressively parsed out this class, in particular, trading five of their initial seven picks in the past calendar year with mixed results.
Montez Sweat proved worth the second-round pick surrendered for him.
However, Dan Feeney and N?Keal Harry made a minimal impact despite costing the Bears their sixth and seventh-round picks in this cycle.
The hit rate on late-round picks isn?t great. But it leaves the Bears shorthanded to move around in the middle rounds for a prospect they like unless they trade back first. Their other options would be to trade more future capital or players.
All of those options should be on the table on draft night.
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The Bears have the flexibility to operate that way after reshaping the roster over the past two years. They are also thin at wide receiver, even with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen at the top of the depth chart. Moore, 27, has been a horse in his career with just two missed games. But Allen, 32, has missed at least one game in each of the last four seasons.
That includes 11 games in the past two years alone.
Adding another body to a group that includes 2023 fifth-round pick Tyler Scott, former New York Giant Collin Johnson, and 2022 third-rounder Velus Jones Jr. makes sense.
Also in the group are Dante Pettis, Nsimba Webster, and Joe Reed, none of whom appeared in a game last season. The Bears still sit in a unique position for the organization, even with Williams all but locked into No. 1.