Bears Select TE Colston Loveland at #10

[Stinger226]

21 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

He'll be here this year, but an inline blocker is not worth the cap space he takes up for next year.

A couple months ago when we were talking cuts for cap space, i brought up Kmet, and figured he stays this year and is gone next year. Time will tell of course.

Kmet has one of the best catch rates in the league.  A poor season last year was because he didn't get the ball thrown to him 55 targets, 47 catches. It was scheme that hampered him last year. 

Johnson wanted another weapon. Loveland can play in the 12 set, slot WR and split outside. He also boasts the running game. Extra blockers to support our OTs. 

As usually Poles surprised us, now we have to see how he plays the rest of the draft. 

[BearFan PHX]

9 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Kmet has one of the best catch rates in the league.  A poor season last year was because he didn't get the ball thrown to him 55 targets, 47 catches. It was scheme that hampered him last year.

That's one argument. I see Kmet as average. He will have this year to prove it.

Now PLEASE not Mike Green to GB.

[BearFan PHX]

GB got Golden the fast WR. sucks, but we have a good secondary.

[AZ54]

What Ben Johnson sees in Loveland  

 

[BearFan PHX]

75% of Lovelands catches are for first downs.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

He'll be here this year, but an inline blocker is not worth the cap space he takes up for next year.

A couple months ago when we were talking cuts for cap space, i brought up Kmet, and figured he stays this year and is gone next year. Time will tell of course.

Kmet has always been the inline blocker, so he can still play a role in the offense as he has done previously.  He will most likely see more production with Johnson in charge.  If the Bears sign/draft another TE, then I will agree he is gone but until then he is sticking around.

[BearFan PHX]

6 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Kmet has always been the inline blocker, so he can still play a role in the offense as he has done previously.  He will most likely see more production with Johnson in charge.  If the Bears sign/draft another TE, then I will agree he is gone but until then he is sticking around.

for $10M a year, when you can cut or trade him with no cap penalty? He has a role for sure, I just dont see it for that money.

[BearFan PHX]

13 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

What Ben Johnson sees in Loveland  

 

For sure. And if you didnt see it on the other thread, here is another high praise tweet -  Eric Galko is the director of operations for the East-West Shrine Bowl. And he also founded Optimum Scouting just tweeted this:
 

 

[AZ54]

We can all find rankings with all sorts of different values.   Loveland here was 7 overall on Draft Network.  I"m sure I can find him as far back as 20 or 25 but on average I'd say he was at least around 15 across the board.  Might have been higher than that in the final rankings just prior to the draft.   

https://www.thedraftnetwork.com/list/nfl-draft-2025-player-rankings

....12 here on CBS

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospect-rankings/

....Brugler had Warren at 10 and Loveland at 11. 

https://www.chargers.com/news/dane-brugler-top-100-draft-prospects

"Two common names in recent mock drafts — Penn State's Tyler Warren and Michigan's Colston Loveland — are right near one another on the Big Board. Warren came in at No. 10 overall while Loveland was at No. 11."

I checked a few other places and almost everywhere I look his value fit very close to where we drafted him.  I wanted to build the trenches and didn't want a TE at 10 so I never really considered him, or Warren, unless we traded back a bit.   Seeing him work out of the slot effectively gives me hope we got a good move TE and filled a clear need on the offense.   I'm coming to grips with it.  The fact we took him ahead of the popular pick in Warren shows me our talent evaluators and new coaches can make good decisions together.   

Or maybe I should be worried they agreed with my TE evaluation?     

 

[jason]

2 hours ago, AZ54 said:

That was my pick but I'm not the guy who just handed an offensive head coach $13mil/yr.     

The inference here is that we should trust them. Out of all franchises in the NFL, the Bears are one of the few the fanbase absolutely should not trust. They continually F up year after year without learning previous lessons. Without trying the obvious. Without sticking to simplicity. Without building the trenches.

So, I hope he’s the next Travis Kelce, but right now it looks like a really bad selection for a team that already has a talented, underused TE and many other holes to fill.

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, AZ54 said:

We can all find rankings with all sorts of different values.   Loveland here was 7 overall on Draft Network.  I"m sure I can find him as far back as 20 or 25 but on average I'd say he was at least around 15 across the board.  Might have been higher than that in the final rankings just prior to the draft.   

https://www.thedraftnetwork.com/list/nfl-draft-2025-player-rankings

....12 here on CBS

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospect-rankings/

....Brugler had Warren at 10 and Loveland at 11. 

https://www.chargers.com/news/dane-brugler-top-100-draft-prospects

"Two common names in recent mock drafts — Penn State's Tyler Warren and Michigan's Colston Loveland — are right near one another on the Big Board. Warren came in at No. 10 overall while Loveland was at No. 11."

I checked a few other places and almost everywhere I look his value fit very close to where we drafted him.  I wanted to build the trenches and didn't want a TE at 10 so I never really considered him, or Warren, unless we traded back a bit.   Seeing him work out of the slot effectively gives me hope we got a good move TE and filled a clear need on the offense.   I'm coming to grips with it.  The fact we took him ahead of the popular pick in Warren shows me our talent evaluators and new coaches can make good decisions together.   

Or maybe I should be worried they agreed with my TE evaluation?     

 

TE at 10 was never my choice but Johnson gets to choose what weapons he wants. I was thinking more with speed but he has a player he can play chess with. Slot WR, 12 set, split outside. He now has a 6-6 and 6-5 target to good with 2 very good WRs. Add the running game and we get to see an offense that scores a lot of points. Also adds another blocker in the run game.

We finally get a high energy offensive mind and people are complaining about his choices.

[BearFan PHX]

I think the thing about Loveland is that he is a lot like Keenan Allen at the stem of his route. he is very clean in and out of breaks for such a big guy, and he gets open with that stuff in a way that Warren and Kmet dont.

If you imagine a large Keenen Allen, then you start to see the matchup issues.

Also, to my tweet that I highlighted where the guy said they had him #2 overall, you know i have argued over and over that opinions vary and you gotta watch the film. So thats before you choose LOL AFTER the choice is made, then you read every good thing written and try to see if he does the things they say he does!

I have no problem with unreasonably positive narratives around a guy after we pick him! Right now hes awesome. Then he has to get on the field, and his tape will start to tell the story. But right now? He's the best! LOL

[Stinger226]

After seeing the draft room celebration, they clearly were targeting Loveland. Someone asked Poles if he thought 3 OTs would go in the top 9 and he said yes.

He's 4" taller, 45 lbs heavier and runs a 4.65 40. Allen ran a 4.71 40.

Now if you're saying he catches the ball well like Keenan, very true but their measurements aren't even close.

This pick was a surprise to everyone but a few experts. DJ and Brugler had him  rated around 10. We got excited when Johnson came here , everyone was cheering and now that Johnson gets someone he wanted, people complain. I'm excited to see what Ben does with him.

[AZ54]

8 hours ago, jason said:

The inference here is that we should trust them. Out of all franchises in the NFL, the Bears are one of the few the fanbase absolutely should not trust. They continually F up year after year without learning previous lessons. Without trying the obvious. Without sticking to simplicity. Without building the trenches.

So, I hope he’s the next Travis Kelce, but right now it looks like a really bad selection for a team that already has a talented, underused TE and many other holes to fill.

Not true.  My inference is that Ryan Poles has to justify his job to the owner who approved him to pay a HC that much money.  There should be an expectation from the owners to see results on the offense this year with all that investment.  The timeline on defense can stretch a bit longer.  

[jason]

11 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

for $10M a year, when you can cut or trade him with no cap penalty? He has a role for sure, I just dont see it for that money.

Bingo! That’s why this pick doesn’t make sense unless Kmet is on the chopping block. That’s way too much tied into the TE position, regardless of the amount of 12-package being run. 

Everyone needs to remember, there is still only one football.

[jason]

1 hour ago, AZ54 said:

Not true.  My inference is that Ryan Poles has to justify his job to the owner who approved him to pay a HC that much money.  There should be an expectation from the owners to see results on the offense this year with all that investment.  The timeline on defense can stretch a bit longer.  

That’s fair. I misinterpreted your intent. You’re right; this pick is as much about Poles as it is Johnson.

[adam]

Based on cap numbers, unless Kmet is traded, they will probably cut him after 2025, especially if a rookie outperforms him. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

17 minutes ago, jason said:

Bingo! That’s why this pick doesn’t make sense unless Kmet is on the chopping block. That’s way too much tied into the TE position, regardless of the amount of 12-package being run. 

Everyone needs to remember, there is still only one football.

I disagree - they clearly viewed the other spots as guys with flaws lower on their boards and saw Loveland as a guy with high end upside who combined with Kmet and Moore and Rome legitimate matchup problems. If you dump Kmet you get rid of that advantage in a 12 men situation. 
 

I still will have went with the trenches - but it’s clear in my mind that while I value a pick elsewhere, that Loveland is a very high end elite TE prospect, a notch below Bowers but not a ton. 

[adam]

At least Poles didn't trade up for him, lol. I guess that is a positive. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

8 minutes ago, adam said:

Based on cap numbers, unless Kmet is traded, they will probably cut him after 2025, especially if a rookie outperforms him. 

Kmet is fairly compensated especially relative to the growing cap. If Kmet doesn’t play well - fine - but if this works out I expect this two man advantage at TE to play itself out over the next couple of years as a real differentiator and match up problem - especially when combined with their top 2 wideouts and ideally an explosive back (who can catch the ball too)…makes playing defense with a creative very difficult. This also should help a young QB. 

[dawhizz]

Two other articles on why Loveland was ranked over Warren with some pretty thorough rationale. 

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/2025-nfl-draft-is-tyler-warren-or-colston-loveland-te1-breaking-down-2-fun-prospects-at-a-challenging-position-191024073.html

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/nfl-draft-2025-why-tyler-warren-actually-isnt-our-no-1-in-tight-end-rankings-for-a-loaded-class/

 

 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 hour ago, adam said:

Based on cap numbers, unless Kmet is traded, they will probably cut him after 2025, especially if a rookie outperforms him. 

Loveland is not just TE though, he is replacing Keenan Allens snaps in the slot too. 

Kmets salary drops to 8.9 million 2026-27. 

I didn't want a TE or WR, but after Banks was gone I was stumped and figured Tyler Warren.  I don't think Warren would do as well as Loveland in the slot slot, so now the pick started making more sense to me.

[Mongo3451]

1 hour ago, jason said:

Bingo! That’s why this pick doesn’t make sense unless Kmet is on the chopping block. That’s way too much tied into the TE position, regardless of the amount of 12-package being run. 

Everyone needs to remember, there is still only one football.

I think Johnson eluded to Kmet's role, a couple weeks ago, when he said he needed to be a better run blocker.  Hopefully, Cole embraces the suck and remains a leader.