Rome Odunze track and field career: 40 time, stats, & more know about top 2024 NFL Draft prospect

Rome Odunze track and field career: 40 time, stats, & more know about top 2024 NFL Draft prospect

Of all the receivers poised to be selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, few come with the intrigue of Washington standout Rome Odunze.

A hulking presence the likes of which is much desired across footballing circles, Odunze is teeming with physical talent. He posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with the Huskies, creating quite the battery with QB Michael Penix Jr. With great leaping ability, overwhelming strength, and hands light as feathers, Odunze projects to be one of the first receivers taken in the draft.

With a harrowing frame, it’s easy to think of Odunze as an immobile loaf incapable of making magic happen up the field. That would be a mischaracterization, though. Odunze is lightning in a bottle. When he gets out in open terrain, he’s a wizard, conjuring up spells to fell his opposition markers.

Odunze has always been a gifted athlete. He cultivated much of that skill away from the field, though, instead showcasing his talents as a track runner during his high school days.

With that, here’s what you need to know about Odunze’s high school track career, one filled with glint gold medallions.

MORE: NFL Mock Draft 2024, 2-round edition

Rome Odunze track & field career

Odunze enjoyed a sparkling athletic career at Las Vegas superpower Bishop Gorman. In addition to reaching four-star billing as a gridiron prospect, Odunze was quite the sprinter, capturing the Las Vegas state title in the 200m with a time of 21.25s in 2019.

Odunze was also a member of Bishop Gorman’s state-championship winning 4×100 relay team, which strutted to the gold with a time of 41.36s.

There was plenty of interest in Odunze as a potential track star. He had already cemented himself as one of his state’s most dangerous runners during the early parts of his Bishop Gorman tenure. Couple that with a glistening football career — one spearheaded by frantic races to paydirt — and Odunze’s pace became a central part of his game, not just as a sprinter but also as a football player.

You see, Odunze was already a menacing proposition in the open field. With a 6-3, 216-pound frame, Odunze is more titan than man. He tends to leave overmatched markers swirling in his wake, barreling his way through contact to pick up the hard yards.

Couple that with game-changing speed, and it was little surprise that Odunze was so sought after. He fielded scholarship offers from blue-chip programs like Alabama, Ohio State, and Oklahoma.

Track was never Odunze’s first love. That distinction was saved for the gridiron, a place he excelled on more than most during his high school days.

However, his time as a sprinter did help Odunze cultivate his skills once he got the slippery brown orb into his hands.

“It teaches me how to open up, when you catch that ball or you get some space to be able to break away,” Odunze said in a 2020 Athletic article. “Or when you’re on a ‘go route,’ hauling ass trying to get past a dude, I feel like that helps you. It just helps with overall speed, really. And conditioning. After that track season, you come into football, and it’s easier.”

Rome Odunze 40 time

Washington reported that Odunze clocked in with a stunning 4.34s 40-yard dash time last offseason. If he were to put up a similar showing in the NFL Draft Combine, you’d have to imagine his name getting called quite early come draft day.

“I’ve never seen him faster,” DeBoer told On Montlake’s Christian Caple back in August. “He’s clocking in the 4.3s, and (is) as big as I’ve ever seen him.”

Rome Odunze stats

Odunze has steadily improved over the course of his Huskies career, recording back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons to thrust himself into Washington immortality.