3 underappreciated Chicago Bears players coming into 2022

An NFL journeyman that has has always been out of the spotlight, Blackson has made a career out of being a rotational all-around defensive tackle. 

2.) Angelo Blackson

Angelo Blackson isn’t a household name in Chicago. In fact, he hasn’t been a household name for any team. Blackson, a 4th round pick to the Tennessee Titans back in 2015, has never been with a single team for more than 3 seasons.

Despite the team hopping, Blackson has been impactful for every team he’s played for. Surprisingly, his best statistical season was last season, his lone season with the Chicago Bears.

In 2021, Blackson started 8 games, picking up 2.5 sacks, deflecting 2 passes, and grabbing his first ever interception in the week 2 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

But that’s not all. Blackson played 55% of the defensive snaps for the Bears in 2021, the highest percent that he’s ever played for a team.

With Khalil Mack, Ahkeim Hicks, and Eddie Goldman all leaving the team after last season, Blackson has a chance to increase his snap count in his age 30 season.

With Angelo Blackson not staying with a team for more than 3 seasons and never being considered anything near a star player, it’s easy to see why he is overlooked.

That’s not going to stop him however, as 2022 has promise to be his best season yet.

A young, versatile tight end who has been quite productive for the Bears despite having the “bust” reputation floated around by analysts and fans.

3.) Cole Kmet

Cole Kmet is by far the most well known player on this list. However, that doesn’t mean that his contributions to the team have been appreciated.

Kmet was a 2nd round draft choice from the University of Notre Dame back in 2020. Since the day he was drafted, the pressure was on him to perform. Kmet had even more pressure than most draftees. This is because the Chicago Bears were his hometown team and it was a dream come true for Kmet.

Kmet’s first season was disappointment. Only recording 28 catches for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns. Not the type of production you expect from an early day 2 draft pick. For the most part this season seemed to be forgiven since Kmet was only a 21-year old rookie.

Last season Kmet nearly tripled his yard total, grabbing 60 passes for 612 receiving yards. Most people would be excited to see that in just one season Kmet doubled his catches and almost tripled his yards.

However, some fans and analysts are still labeling the young TE as a “Bust”, just because he didn’t record a TD in 2021. People need to start remembering that Kmet was only 22 years old last year and still has plenty of time to improve.

His 612 receiving yards last season was already 12th among tight ends and his 93 targets were good for 9th.

With the direction that Kmet’s play has been going, he should only get better and better as he gets older and more comfortable with the system. 2022 should be his best season yet, as the new coaching staff has said that they have big plans for him.