13 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

Right, youre not hating on Loveland, you just wish theyd spent the pick elsewhere.

And I think you think Kmet was OK (and I do too) but I also think you dont think Loveland will be worth the lost opportunity to have spent the pick elsewhere. My disagreement with that is i think hes gonna be a star. If he just ends up decent, then youre totally right.

Loveland is closer to WR Tat McMillan because he will be a slot/move TE.  Loveland and Burden will rotate while Kmet stays at TE or if they want to go better blocking put Smythe in.  You wont see Loveland inline like Kmet/Smythe. Kmet is paid decently, so the Bears could trade him before his final year.  That would be smart to get value. Since the Bears are paying all their QBs 13 mil total, they can splurge the extra money right now.  The Bears have technically 4 more years of this benefit.  That's a lot of years to draft players and balance the team for long term success.  

We cant change the draft. They took a TE and we will play the year with 2 TEs in this offense. Our cap space is fine. We have 6.7 mil to the good and will be making some cuts. Next year we have 28 mil to start the year. We still have this year to add some vets cut to help at DE. LT has 3 competing for the job, I doubt that add there. Our roster is set. They made the choices they wanted.

49 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

We cant change the draft. They took a TE and we will play the year with 2 TEs in this offense. Our cap space is fine. We have 6.7 mil to the good and will be making some cuts. Next year we have 28 mil to start the year. We still have this year to add some vets cut to help at DE. LT has 3 competing for the job, I doubt that add there. Our roster is set. They made the choices they wanted.

Poles has been active at the trade deadline every year.

1 hour ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Loveland is closer to WR Tat McMillan because he will be a slot/move TE.  Loveland and Burden will rotate while Kmet stays at TE or if they want to go better blocking put Smythe in.  You wont see Loveland inline like Kmet/Smythe. Kmet is paid decently, so the Bears could trade him before his final year.  That would be smart to get value. Since the Bears are paying all their QBs 13 mil total, they can splurge the extra money right now.  The Bears have technically 4 more years of this benefit.  That's a lot of years to draft players and balance the team for long term success.  

I agree. Loveland isnt a bad blocker though. There was a narrative that he was all WR, and youre right that he can play like one, but apparently he is a better blocker than people realize too.

Im not sure when we go to one TE inline that it will be Kmet though and not Loveland?

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

I agree. Loveland isnt a bad blocker though. There was a narrative that he was all WR, and youre right that he can play like one, but apparently he is a better blocker than people realize too.

Im not sure when we go to one TE inline that it will be Kmet though and not Loveland?

Loveland is supposed to be an excellent blocker - with a high degree of athleticism. That is why he went where the Bears took him.  Or at least that is what they saw in him to take him where they did. It is the combination of high end blocking tools with high end athleticism that make him a unicorn type of prospect at TE which at least in the eyes of Poles justified him drafting him where he was.  Whether Bears scouts are right, we shall see - but this isn't a Jimmy Graham who you knew was in there to catch passes vs. block...he's supposed to kind of have the Jimmy Graham pass catching ability while also being a good run blocker, meaning play actions should work really well with him in there, including in 12 package with Kmet on the field too.  Knowing how much Ben Johnson leveraged the playaction game in Detroit - you got to think this is going to be a huge focal point of the Bears offense (also helped that Detroit had a very high octane ground game and oline).  BJ was also elite in how he mixed those things up too.  

2 hours ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

Loveland is supposed to be an excellent blocker - with a high degree of athleticism. That is why he went where the Bears took him.  Or at least that is what they saw in him to take him where they did. It is the combination of high end blocking tools with high end athleticism that make him a unicorn type of prospect at TE which at least in the eyes of Poles justified him drafting him where he was.  Whether Bears scouts are right, we shall see - but this isn't a Jimmy Graham who you knew was in there to catch passes vs. block...he's supposed to kind of have the Jimmy Graham pass catching ability while also being a good run blocker, meaning play actions should work really well with him in there, including in 12 package with Kmet on the field too.  Knowing how much Ben Johnson leveraged the playaction game in Detroit - you got to think this is going to be a huge focal point of the Bears offense (also helped that Detroit had a very high octane ground game and oline).  BJ was also elite in how he mixed those things up too.  

I agree with all of this.

The best way to help Caleb is a good running game that opens up play action.

Loveland is playing the LaPorta role in the Ben Johnson offense. Last year LaPorta had 551 snaps with 452 routes. Sam was rarely asked to block. Loveland will rarely be put in as inline blocker role of the TE. He will line up out, the Y and Z positions and at the slot WR role. If you look at any of his draft reviews he has the traits to be a good blocker but was rarely asked to block in college. He was not brought here to fill the inline TE role. He is not replacing Kmet, he is pass catching TE more liken to a WR. As AZ argues , will Kmet be used enough to justify his pay. We will get to see how the O scheme developes. 

5 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Loveland is playing the LaPorta role in the Ben Johnson offense. Last year LaPorta had 551 snaps with 452 routes. Sam was rarely asked to block. Loveland will rarely be put in as inline blocker role of the TE. He will line up out, the Y and Z positions and at the slot WR role. If you look at any of his draft reviews he has the traits to be a good blocker but was rarely asked to block in college. He was not brought here to fill the inline TE role. He is not replacing Kmet, he is pass catching TE more liken to a WR. As AZ argues , will Kmet be used enough to justify his pay. We will get to see how the O scheme developes. 

BJ wont necessarily run the same offense as he did in Detroit. I do agree Loveland's receiving stats could be similar, but Loveland CAN block too!

3 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

BJ wont necessarily run the same offense as he did in Detroit. I do agree Loveland's receiving stats could be similar, but Loveland CAN block too!

He is not going to be playing the inline TE role, Smythe will get those targets. He didnt get drafted for him to  block. Johnson will adapt to the roster to design his offense but the first two picks mirror players he had in Detriot , Loveland and Burden. He has 2 TEs that can catch passes, he will use both in his offensive scheme. In Detriot the 2nd TE had 16 targets, that wont happen here.

7 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

He is not going to be playing the inline TE role

how do you know where they will line him up? my expectation is that they will do all sorts of things with him because he is so flexible.

7 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

He is not going to be playing the inline TE role, Smythe will get those targets. He didnt get drafted for him to  block. Johnson will adapt to the roster to design his offense but the first two picks mirror players he had in Detriot , Loveland and Burden. He has 2 TEs that can catch passes, he will use both in his offensive scheme. In Detriot the 2nd TE had 16 targets, that wont happen here.

I can see him lined up everywhere, including inline.  From inline, they won't expect him to handle any DL, but he can chip and release, release and go in motion.  

Johnson has a motto, "no block, no rock". 

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

I can see him lined up everywhere, including inline.  From inline, they won't expect him to handle any DL, but he can chip and release, release and go in motion.  

Johnson has a motto, "no block, no rock". 

He will have a few snaps there as you say to change things up but he is BJs new weapon and he will play where he can  get the most out of him.

 

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

how do you know where they will line him up? my expectation is that they will do all sorts of things with him because he is so flexible.

Its just an opinion on projection . Just like you saying Cole could be traded midseason.

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

Its just an opinion on projection . Just like you saying Cole could be traded midseason.

OK, cool - it's just I usually say "thats why i think" or "it looks like" or some kind of qualifier. When you say "He is not going to be playing the inline TE role" it sounds like such a definitive statement, and it makes me think "well you dont know that" - I'll try to read those as opinion in the future.

And in the case of Cole, I'm totally bendable. I do say hes a good player, and has a chance to play himself back into the light. It's not as definitive for me as it was when I started saying "Eberflus sucks 100% he needs to be fired" or something like that. THAT was just true, we all got there eventually.

You always quailfy (he's a good player but). Making statements like ( he hasnt proven himself) doesnt make sense. (Cant seperate) doesnt make sense. he played well enough to get a good contract. You make it sound like last year is his only window. . He had a very good year in 2023. It was not his fault he didnt get targets.

He is not going to play the inline TE position is not a finite statement. Count the snaps this year. It wont even be 10%. You make it like if he plays one play there, I was totally wrong. Its a general statement.

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

You always quailfy (he's a good player but). Making statements like ( he hasnt proven himself) doesnt make sense. (Cant seperate) doesnt make sense. he played well enough to get a good contract. You make it sound like last year is his only window. . He had a very good year in 2023. It was not his fault he didnt get targets.

He is not going to play the inline TE position is not a finite statement. Count the snaps this year. It wont even be 10%. You make it like if he plays one play there, I was totally wrong. Its a general statement.

That's just what i get from having watched the games.

In my opinion, he is a good player but not a great one, and he has not lived up to his potential. He HAS potential. if he improves a lot, then he will be great and all bets are off. But I haven't seen a great or special TE in Kmet.

On 5/12/2025 at 8:51 PM, BearFan PHX said:

Right, youre not hating on Loveland, you just wish theyd spent the pick elsewhere.

And I think you think Kmet was OK (and I do too) but I also think you dont think Loveland will be worth the lost opportunity to have spent the pick elsewhere. My disagreement with that is i think hes gonna be a star. If he just ends up decent, then youre totally right.

100%. I don’t think he will be a star because there are too many receiving mouths to feed, and the offense hasn’t yet displayed the competency required to creat multiple stars.

On 5/13/2025 at 8:30 AM, Mongo3451 said:

You are correct in that you shouldn't pay top money to two TE's.  Kmet also won't fetch anything in trade.  Not because he has no value, but because he's what every team has.  If it gets down to money, I expect him to restructure accordingly or be cut.  Just not this year.  Again, I can't see anyone trading for his salary...

Well, Kmet definitely won’t get a ton now because there is a 100% certainty that he will be underused in 2025.