Rome Odunze 2024 NFL Draft Profile: Everything you need to know about Jets' potential target
With the Jets currently holding the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, let's take a look at one prospect who may be a target: Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze.
By The Numbers
- Height: 6-foot-3
- Weight: 212 pounds
- 40-Yard Dash: 4.45
- Vertical: 39 inches
- Bench: DNP
- Broad Jump: 10-foot-4
- 2023 Stats (15 games played): 92 catches, 1,640 receiving yards, 13 touchdown catches plus 37 rushing yards and one touchdown run.
Prospect Overview
Bleacher Report: Odunze is a quarterback's best friend. He's a reliable route-runner with good size and an accuracy-erasing catch radius. Odunze can be a classic X receiver who moonlights as a slot receiver from time to time thanks to his awareness and ability to play in traffic.
NFL.com: A team captain with good size and elite ball skills, Odunze consistently dominated his competition. While most receivers look to open separation windows with speed or route running, Odunze seems to relish jump balls and contested catches. He shines in all aspects of ball skills, including positioning, body control, hand strength, timing and mid-air adjustments. He has a tendency to cruise through routes rather than working with attention to detail and pacing. He was a decorated high school sprinter, so speed should not be an issue in the pros. He’s a high-volume target on the next level that play-callers can utilize to mismatch finesse cornerbacks. Elite ball skills are often the secret sauce for top NFL receivers, so it should not surprise if Odunze is a Day 1 starter who becomes a top-flight WR1.
Why Rome Odunze makes sense for the Jets
The Jets look keen to add another big name pass catching target to their offense this year, in an effort to surround Aaron Rodgers with as much talent as possible as he returns from his torn Achilles. While some believe they may target a veteran, if they don’t manage to address the need via trade or in free agency, the draft could provide some intriguing potential solutions.
Odunze is one of three receivers widely expected to be selected in the top half of the first round and could be an excellent option for the Jets if he drops to them at 10. His size would seem to make him an ideal complement to current number one receiver Garrett Wilson and his all-round abilities mean that he has the potential to develop into an elite receiver in his own right, especially with Rodgers throwing him the ball.
Over the course of his college career, Odunze showed consistent development each year and led the nation in receiving yards in 2023 as he helped lead the Huskies to the BCS title game.
The main knock on Odunze is that he isn’t necessarily an elite athlete, but he dispelled some of those concerns with his Combine workouts. His 40-yard dash was 4.45 seconds, which demonstrates that he has more than enough speed to produce at the NFL level for a player with his size and strength.
The only thing that could stop Odunze from being a candidate to be drafted by the Jets – unless they acquire a Pro Bowl receiver between now and the draft – is if he gets selected in the first nine picks and is off the board by the time they make their first selection. It seems unlikely that three receivers will be selected in the top nine though, especially with so many highly regarded tackle and quarterback prospects potentially available. Even if Odunze is gone, this should mean another top receiver or a top tackle prospect is available instead.
NFL Comparison
NFL.com: Larry Fitzgerald
