Who Should I Start? Brian Thomas Jr. or Rome Odunze

Tuesday, July 15, 6:05 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. burst onto the NFL scene last year after being taken with the No. 23 overall pick out of LSU. Even on a bad team with spotty quarterback play, Thomas managed to catch 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns in 17 games (16 starts). The Athletic's Jeff Howe thinks that if the Trevor Lawrence-Liam Coen pairing works out the way it's envisioned, Thomas could be even better. Rookie first-round wideout Travis Hunter will be on the other side of the field drawing attention away from Thomas, too. It's not a stretch to think that Thomas could become a household name in his sophomore season in 2025, which is why RotoBaller has him ranked as a top-10 fantasy pass-catcher. The 22-year-old had si straight games with at least 10 targets and 76 yards a year ago.

Tuesday, July 29, 7:52 PM

Chicago Bears second-year wide receiver Rome Odunze has been the recipient of some of the offense's best plays so far in training camp, Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic writes, and his skill set will give new head coach Ben Johnson flexibility because of the way Odunze can win one-on-one matchups. "To me, he fits that prototypical 'X' receiver where you can line him up outside the numbers and, provided he gets a one-on-one with a corner, he's going to win most of his matchups, slant routes, stop routes, go routes, the whole route tree outside the numbers," Johnson said. The new head coach continues to praise the 23-year-old, which is why the Bears coaching staff is expecting a big Year 2 leap from Odunze. There will be stiff target competition in Chicago's offense, but with Keenan Allen now gone, Odunze should definitely have lots more upside as a WR3/flex in 2025.