Monsters of the Route Tree? How the Chicago Bears now lead with offense

The Chicago Bears are having an identity crisis of the best kind. A team known for its defensive prowess for the past few decades has now had a full-on rom-com makeover. It's now all about the offense, baby.

With the addition of Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze with the ninth overall pick in this year's NFL Draft, the Bears could conceivably have the NFL's best wideout room. 

As part of an effort to create the best possible landing spot for newly minted Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, general manager Ryan Poles infused the offense with experience. He traded a fourth-round pick for Keenan Allen after acquiring D.J. Moore in the trade down from the top spot last year. For good measure, Poles then also grabbed Odunze with the team's second first-round pick in 2024, a player with whom Williams already seems to have a rapport. 

In fact, all four of the aforementioned players had a throwing session the week before the draft, before Williams or Odunze were even Bears.

"I found out, was it two days ago? That that popped out," Poles said on draft night. "I thought it was pretty cool. Still at that point I was nervous that wasn't going to be able to work out where we would have to do something to make that work out. So when I found that out, it was cool, and obviously now that group has worked together, which is good."

If you consider that Moore is still this team's top wide receiver, Allen is now their WR2, who should be used primarily in the slot, the speedy Odunze will now stretch the field, adding the complementary dimension to his veteran counterparts. 

Odunze was widely considered one of the three best receivers in this draft class. The other two, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers, were drafted to be their team's