How did Rome Odunze measure at NFL Draft Combine after meeting with Cardinals?
Mar 2, 2024, 9:23 PM
Rome Odunze of Washington was largely considered the top wide receiver prospect taking the field at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Saturday. He, Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State and LSU’s Malik Nabers make up a big three of receivers on the top of mock drafts, and Odunze handled himself as such in drills.
Before taking the field to run the 40-yard dash, Odunze met with several teams sitting atop the draft. The Arizona Cardinals at No. 4 were one of them, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, along with the Chicago Bears at No. 1 and New England Patriots at No. 3.
Odunze led the country with 1,640 receiving yards and pulled in 92 catches en route to becoming a first team All-American and Biletnikoff Award finalist as a team captain with the Huskies. He had 10 games with at least 100 receiving yards, a consistently dominant force for the Pac-12 champions.
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The Las Vegas native measured at 6-foot-3, 212 pounds at the combine with 9.25-inch hands and 32.25-inch arms.
He ran a 4.45 40-yard dash and a 4.03 short shuttle, the latter of which ranked second among wide receivers at Lucas Oil Stadium. The prospect measured at 39 inches on the vertical jump and 10 feet, four inches on broad jump.
Odunze’s three-cone drill came in at 6.88, which he was not satisfied with. So much so that he stayed behind after everyone else was done in attempts to hit a 6.6.
.@RomeOdunze won’t leave the field until he hits his target of 6.6 on the 3 cone drill.
Total dedication. #NFLCombine pic.twitter.com/vIxbd3V52k
— NFL (@NFL) March 3, 2024
His gauntlet was perfect, showing off elite hands and body control while reaching 19.4 mph. That body control came into view on a toss from his quarterback, Heisman finalist Michael Penix Jr.
We’ve seen this before…@themikepenix | @RomeOdunze | @UW_Football
📺: #NFLCombine on @nflnetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/is4pur5qiV— NFL (@NFL) March 3, 2024
Odunze during media interviews said he wants to play at least 10 years in the NFL with sights on becoming one of the best players to ever do it.
“I just think my versatility on the field, I think I showed all the skills that can translate to the NFL at a high level and different facets of my game,” Odunze said. “And I think who I am as a person and who I will be to the locker room, who I’ll be in the community are all A+.”
Odunze said he’s competitive with the other top receivers in the draft class, while highlighting the talent of the group. He called participating at the combine an opportunity to compete against generations before and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The Cardinals enter the offseason with a wide receiver corps of Rondale Moore, Michael Wilson and Zach Pascal. Marquise Brown is an unrestricted free agent, and Greg Dortch is a restricted free agent.
Arizona had a positive interview with Harrison at the combine, head coach Jonathan Gannon told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Friday, as they enquire about adding a game-changing weapon for quarterback Kyler Murray and playcaller Drew Petzing.
