When the Chicago Bears chose to take Colston Loveland with the No. 10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, some thought he would be heavily involved in the offense from day one. The fact that they took him over Tyler Warren, who seemed to be the consensus TE1 in this class, hinted at big plans for him, as it clearly was a matter of fit.
Fast forward to today, and after a slow and somewhat disappointing start to his career, Loveland finally turned the page. Unfortunately, despite some impressive performances, he's not as involved in the offense as he should.
Ben Johnson Must Get Colston Loveland More Consistently Involved
As pointed out by Bears Film Room on X, Loveland has been one of the most productive tight ends in the league over the past five weeks. He ranks first in drops (zero), is tied for second in touchdowns (3), passer rating when targeted (156.3), and missed tackles forced (5), checks in at third overall in receiving yards (300), and ranks fifth in both yards after catch (133) and first downs (12). He's done all that on 25 targets, which ranks 11th among tight ends during that span.
The numbers don't lie, and it's pretty evident that Loveland has emerged as one of the Bears' most dangerous weapons. So, there's no reason he should only be getting five targets per game. He's played nearly as many snaps as fellow TE Cole Kmet lately, despite clearly being a much more productive weapon.
Perhaps Coach Johnson wants to take things slowly with the rookie, and that makes sense to a degree. Still, even though he's not getting as heavily involved in the passing game as Sam LaPorta was when Johnson was with the Detroit Lions, he's already shown what he's capable of when given a longer leash.
Through ten career games (eight starts), the rookie out of Michigan has hauled in 28 receptions on 38 targets for 378 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The bulk of that production has come in the past month or so.
He's trending in the right direction, and with a Pro Football Focus grade of 74.9, which ranks ninth among 38 eligible tight ends, it's going to be tough for Ben Johnson to justify not making him one of the team's primary weapons for Caleb Williams. If anything, there's a strong case to be made for him to be their second-best pass catcher behind only Rome Odunze right now.