The Chicago Bears are looking to continue their quest toward securing the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC. To do that, they will need all of their players at full strength. Rome Odunze is currently dealing with an injury that kept him out of Wednesday’s practice. Will fantasy football managers have the talented sophomore WR available in Week 14?
Rome Odunze Injury Update
Thursday update:Â Odunze did not practice for a second consecutive day. While it is possible he could go DNP-DNP-Limited and play, this is an ominous sign for his availability.
Odunze played in the Week 13 contest against Philadelphia and has not missed a game this season. The second-year receiver has suited up for all 12 of the Bears’ games, providing consistency for Chicago’s passing attack. He caught two of six targets for eight yards during the 24-15 victory over the Eagles on Black Friday.​
Odunze did not practice on Wednesday to open Week 14 preparations with a foot injury. The Bears released an estimated practice report since they did not hold a full practice following the short week.
The veteran receiver has dealt with a medley of injuries this season and missed or been limited at plenty of practices. Odunze has operated with practice restrictions or sat out drills entirely this season due to ankle and heel injuries, making this foot concern the latest in a series of lower-body ailments. Despite the various practice absences, he has always played.​
There are some players who always seem to be able to play through injuries. Perhaps Odunze is one of them. Wednesday practice absences are largely meaningless for evaluating a player’s availability, especially for veterans dealing with minor ailments. Odunze has failed to practice on a Wednesday before and ultimately played.​​
Odunze missed three consecutive Wednesday practices earlier this season with a heel injury in Week 9 and heel and ankle injuries in Week 10. He suited up for both of those games despite the Wednesday absences.
There is no cause for concern just yet regarding his Week 14 availability. As long as he is able to practice by Friday, he should be in line to play Sunday at Green Bay.
Odunze’s Fantasy Outlook
Fantasy football is funny, isn’t it?
You drafted Odunze as your WR3 or WR4 this summer with the thought being that he could, with time, take work off the plate and DJ Moore and peak at the right time. That you might have to lose the initial fight, but that you’d be in a good position to win the war.
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You were right about Odunze being more talented than the industry gave him credit for, but man were you wrong in the run out.
He scored five times in September and was threatening weekly top 10’s as we flipped the calendar to October. Since, however, it’s been unsteady to say the least … exactly the inverse of what you expected.
He’s scored just one touchdown since that opening burst and has turned 21 targets into just 102 yards (seven catches) over the past three weeks. Is this a receiver we should consider benching until he rediscovers his early season form?
As it turns out, it depends on what you think of the matchup of the lines.
Chicago has allowed pressure on under 32% of dropbacks six times and over it six times this season.
Rome Odunze Splits
Low pressure games: 18.5 PPR PPG, 27.8% target share, 5.0 catches
High pressure games: 5.8 PPR PPG, 19.2% target share, 2.3 catches
This means that a bet on Odunze is effectively one against Micah Parsons.
You can do that if you’d like, but I’m not. The Packers have created pressure on at least one-third of opponent dropbacks in 10 of 12 games and are gaining confidence when they elect to blitz (13th in blitzed pressure rate through Week 6, third best since).
The 49ers (Week 17) are the only below average pressure defense left on the Bears’ schedule: I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the trends fit the recent trajectory when it comes to Odunze.
— PFSN Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe
