Draft Analysis: Rome Odunze

Height: 6’3″
Weight: 212 lb
College: Washington
Tape watched: USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Michigan State, Texas, Michigan
NFL Comparison: Davante Adams

Pros

Hands

Rome Odunze has very impressive ball skills. There are times during the broadcast of Odunze’s games where you can hear the ball hit his hands like a catchers mitt swallowing 99mph down the middle. This is not only a testament of Michael Penix’s arm talent, but also the pure hands of Odunze. Quick to locate the football, Odunze rarely has poor hand positioning. He is comfortable catching the ball over both shoulders as well. He is an absolute magician in contested situations, converting plays that seemingly have no chance.

Odunze’s displays his deep route running strength and ball skills.

Route Running

Rome Odunze is advanced in his ability to absorb contact through his routes. He not only fights off contact, he dishes out plenty of his own. He is very talented in manipulating his positioning on 50/50 routes, rarely letting defenders wash him out of plays. He wont wear defenders down with his size or strength, but he maximizes his abilities within his frame.

Odunze shows the ability to sink his hips in and out of route breaks. He also works tempo into his stems and routes quite well. Odunze looked comfortable attacking both man and zone coverages, mixing up his plans of attack.

Odunze refuses to allow defenders to disrupt his routes. He is Teflon through contact.

The flexibility to hit this big of a rocker step is incredible.

Release

Odunze is masterful at minimizing his strike area through press contact. He dips his shoulders very well while maintaining speed and balance. He is strong enough to keep defenders from leaning on him through his stem and route. Odunze may struggle in press and mirror coverage with quicker defensive backs as he does not have elite twitch.

A masterful arm shield transitioned to shoulder dip allows Odunze to clear the press within 5 yards in this press situation. This is teach tape.

Midline

YAC

While he is a strong runner, Odunze runs upright and isn’t the toughest to tackle. He does not necessarily fight for extra yardage while finishing his runs.

He has nice long strides that can cut through gaps in the defense. In space, he shows a good ability to get north and south and wastes little time or yardage opportunities.

Cons

Blocking

Odunze doesn’t display a lot of effort or high interest in making impacts in the blocking game. He occasionally works to square his shoulders to his assignment, but rarely more after that. Odunze has good reps on tape when he gets inside and uses his long arms, but there is a lot of improvement to be made.

At the bottom, Odunze’s lack of effort allows the safety to make this play, preventing a nice run and probable first down.

Agility/Change of Direction

Possibly the only glaring weakness in his game, Odunze doesn’t shine in short spaces. He does not make a ton of defenders miss in space, and twitchy corners may give him trouble in man coverage.

Overview

Receivers with unique blends of fluid route running, play strength, and elite ball skills are hard to find. In most cases, the NFL can go through multiple drafts without a receiver emerging that checks these boxes. Rome Odunze looks like a safe bet to be the next receiver with similarities to Michael Thomas, Deandre Hopkins, or Keenan Allen. The best way to describe Odunze’s play is smooth but violent. He makes some of the best downfield plays when it comes to route running and tracking the football. He has elite hands, play strength, and spatial awareness. Odunze will be a plug-and-play receiver in his first year for the opportunistic NFL team that selects him in the first round.