Call it foreshadowing if you want, but for now, Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze are chalking it up to coincidence.
Williams, who is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick, recently held a throwing session that included wide receivers DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, along with Odunze, who is a potential option when Chicago goes back on the clock at No. 9.
The USC quarterback and Washington wide receiver also found themselves on the same flight Tuesday from Los Angeles to Detroit. Perhaps they'll be on the same flight Friday from Detroit to Chciago, where they'll be introduced as the two newest Bears.
“If a workout and a plane ride means I’m going to the Bears, then I guess so," Odunze told reporters while laughing Wednesday in Detroit. "To me, it’s just some coincidences that we’re having a little fun with. Nobody knows how it’s going to end up. But to be with Caleb again, that would be awesome.”
CHICAGO BEARS
Williams' camp reportedly reached out to the Bears early in the pre-draft process to state their desire for Chicago to show it was willing to put the necessary infrastructure around Williams for him to reach his potential.
The Bears responded by trading for Allen and signing running back D'Andre Swift and tight end Gerald Everett.
Should he be available, drafting Odunze would give the Bears a litany of weapons that will allow Williams to have a soft launch during his rookie season.
“Well, before I got to know him, he was kicking our ass in [November] when we played him," Williams said of Odunze on Wednesday. "It was not enjoyable then. But to be around him and hang out with him here, combine and all the other stuff that we’ve done being around each other, it’s been really fun. To be able to work with each other possibly, if that happened, would be an honor for me and a pleasure. I know the type of athlete and player he is, and being around him since the combine, the type of person he is. So it would be awesome.”
“I think it would be explosive, honestly," Odunze said of teaming up with Williams in Chicago. There are a lot of weapons on that field, and it would be hard for any defense to stop that honestly with any sort of double coverage or focusing on one defender, kind of like exactly what I had in Washington. I know how to fit into something like that.”
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Odunze took a 30-visit to Chicago and knows there's a chance the Bears will grab him at No. 9 or earlier to pair him with Allen, Moore, and Williams.
Williams will be the No. 1 overall pick Thursday, and then anything is possible.
"Yeah, definitely," Odunze said on the latest episode of The Under Center Podcast when asked if he and Williams have discussed teaming up. "I think he's a fan of my wide-receiver play, and I'm a fan of his quarterback play. We've chatted very smally about the possibility of it. Going into Chicago and not with any timidness but going in there to play ball and make an immediate impact which I think would be awesome if it ends up being the situation that both of us are in.
"I think we would come in with a new mindset and aggressiveness to go have success immediately and I think that's the right mindset to have, especially when you're going to such a prestigious organization. With all the pieces they already have, I think we would light it up."
That includes Odunze falling into the Bears' lap at nine and being drafted as the final piece in a retooled offense that would have the best wide-receiving trio in the NFL.
“I mean, that would be awesome if they come get me," Odunze said Wednesday. "That would be awesome and something I’d love to be a part of.”
