Who Should I Start? DJ Moore or Rome Odunze

Monday, August 4, 12:33 PM

The Chicago Bears will likely manufacture touches for wide receiver DJ Moore out of the backfield as well as a receiver as new head coach Ben Johnson adds wrinkles to the offense, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler writes. Moore has the ability to line up in the backfield and still end up deep downfield for targets. Fowler adds that last year, Moore was "relegated to hopeless screen plays and looked disengaged at times." This year, the Bears will "try to maximize his opportunities in a thoughtful way." The 28-year-old had career-highs in catches (96), receiving yards (1,364) and touchdowns (nine) despite the fact that Chicago's offense struggled under rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. The addition of a more creative offensive mind in Johnson, paired with the fact that Keenan Allen is out of town, is good news for Moore's 2025 fantasy value. Treat him as a low-end WR2.

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.