LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Bears' offense is behind the defense to start training camp, but the possibilities of what it can one day become is clear.
"It's scary. It's scary," tight end Gerald Everett said Thursday after practice. "I'm sure you guys have seen it. Even today we gave the defense something to look at, something they probably weren't ready for, but like I said being interchangeable even with DJ and Keenan and the guys in the receiving room. We're going to want to play all of the spots. Whether it be right direction or left direction, we're all going to be flying up and down the field."
With DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze, the Bears have perhaps the most lethal wide receiver trio in the league. It's a trio that is already flashing its deadly potential in camp with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.
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"Keenan’s a magician," cornerback Tyrique Stevenson said Thursday. "Just the fact that he can stop mid-route, change his whole route, or just the fact that he gives you something different than what you’re expecting. He might break in side, but he’s just doing that just to see on the next play how he can get you on a route that’s coming to him. DJ’s just going to be DJ. DJ gonna run a route and you’re not gonna stop it, pretty much."
As for Odunze, he has been one of the early stars in camp. While he enters as the wide receiver on the depth chart, the Bears expect the No. 9 overall pick to be much more than third fiddle to Allen and Moore.
"I really believe that he’s going to have the ability to take off, because of the other players," head coach Matt Eberflus said of Odunze at the end of OTAs. "You’re not going to be able to home in on one guy. Say we just had him, and he was the number one right now. You’d be like, ‘Wow, they can really do some things to him defensively’. But you’re not going to be able to do that versus our crew."
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Allen praised Odunze for being faster and a better route runner than he was coming out of college.
That speed has flashed early at camp against a secondary that believes it's the best in the NFL.
"He’s sneaky fast," Stevenson said of Odunze. "Like off the line, you might not realize he’s closing the cushion as fast, but once he on you, he on you. Just the fact that he’s able to run the wheel routes, he’s able to break down and run the digs, or if you let him, he’ll run right by you. Just the fact that he can pretty much do every route on the route tree."
The Bears' offense is still early in the installation process. There have been moments of brilliance in camp, but Williams and Co. have yet to consistently find their groove.
That's typical with a rookie quarterback early in camp, but the Bears can see what their offense can become.
"Just having that moment with myself, I do it every day. I sit there and I say, ‘We’re going to be pretty damn good,'" Williams said during mandatory minicamp in June. "So just gotta keep working, keep going and we’re all excited. It’s really important to have that mindset, but also have the mindset of ‘Let’s keep going, let’s keep working, let’s get after it.’"