The Chicago Bears‘ young nucleus may be the best in all of football. The only downside of youth is inexperience, which Chicago’s wide receiver room may take the cake across the roster. The Bears’ top three receiving options, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, and Zavion Thomas, are all under 25 years old, and none have had a 1,000-yard receiving season at the NFL level.
General manager Ryan Poles and the Bears front office showed faith in the receiving room when they decided to trade veteran DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills earlier in the offseason.
Former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. decided to share his thoughts on the state of the Bears’ wide receiver room on his Agent 89 podcast.
GettyFormer NFL wide receiver Steve Smith recorded 14,731 yards and 81 touchdowns across 16 seasons.
“I don’t think there’s a defense that Ben Johnson does not feel comfortable attacking with this new rebuilt wide receiver room,” Smith stated.
“I believe [they] can be one of the best young rooms in the National Football League, who has no damn idea what they’re doing yet.”
Steve Smith Sr. Believes Bears’ WR Room Covers All The Bases
Smith’s comments are extremely optimistic that the talent will bridge the gap until the experience catches up.
Rome Odunze is likely the most refined receiver of the main trio, and even he hasn’t come close to the ceiling of ability that led him to be the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
GettyChicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze recorded 44 catches for 661yards and six touchdowns across 12 games in 2025.
Burden III and Thomas are still very raw prospects with highly explosive ability.
Johnson praised Burden’s improvement earlier in the offseason, stating, “He’s still developing and growing his route tree. … He’s been extremely coachable, so I’m really happy with him.”
Thomas has yet to play a single NFL down, but his speed has stood out significantly in OTAs and Minicamp.
Smith Sr. continued to break down what he believes will make the Bears’ passing attack so effective, stating, “The wide receiver room is hitting every level of the field, and they have one of the best masterminds that you can do [it with]…You’re going to be cooking with gas and making a whole lot of money, and making some people on defense question themselves.”
Smith Sr. Challenges The Bears Pass Game To Match The Level Of The Run Game
Smith’s podcast partner, James Palmer, then pointed out how effective Chicago’s run game was last season. The Bears had the third most collective rushing yards in the league in 2025.
“The part that everyone is concerned about is when is the passing game going to consistently show up, like the run game,” Smith postulated. “And if it can show up consistently like the run game, man, you might be looking at the division winners right here.”
The Bears were not a lacklustre passing attack by any means in 2025. Caleb Williams threw 28 touchdowns and a league-low seven interceptions. However, his 58.1% completion rate ranked 34th in the league.
It’s the consistency that Smith Sr. harped on that could really be the difference for Chicago, especially in the postseason.
Johnson expressed a desire to improve Williams’ completion percentage in an interview with BearsWire back in April. “If we want to be elite, we want to be that 70 percent marker,” Johnson said.
Chemistry will play a huge factor in deciding whether that goal is achievable. The Bears’ wide receivers will look to get on the same page with Williams as camp officially opens on July 29th.
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