Ironically, Williams and Odunze's relationship was forged in Detroit — where they both walked across the NFL Draft stage April 25, 2024, as Bears first-round selections.
Since draft night, their bond both on and off the field has been evident. And it's been valuable to the Bears offense as they work to master Johnson's system.
"We can kind of erase mistakes in a sense — with a broken play, make a positive out of what would be a negative play," Odunze shared. "So, those are obviously great things to be able to have in our back pocket, but at the end of the day, we want to run the offense clean and precisely. And if we do that, we'll have success on offense, so that's our main priority."
Through each game Williams and Odunze play together, their connection continues to grow. And early into their second seasons, Odunze is seeing Williams make strides as well.
Odunze believes the impact of the Bears' offensive line additions – guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, along with center Drew Dalman – have helped Williams be able to operate the offense and use his special improvisational skills.
"He's continued to improve, just from his last season to this season, in training camp, all those different things," Odunze said. "He's had steady improvement, and the O-line has done a great job of with their role as well, holding up front and doing a great job with keeping him in the pocket and giving him that space to make plays. He's done that well, and I think when he's had to improvise and use his own flair on the outside to make a play, he's done that as well."
While the Bears offense is still working to put together a complete game following losses to Minnesota and Detroit, Odunze and the rest of the unit have confidence in both themselves and Johnson's system to attain the success they're striving for.
Heading into Sunday's matchup with the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field, the group is locked in on making their necessary corrections and taking a step forward.
"That's all our focus is on, honestly — just flushing this last game, flushing the past two weeks and trying to get in the win category," Odunze said. "We know we've got a great team in Dallas coming in here to try and get a W, so we're going to go out there and compete and try to get our first win at home."