The Chicago Bears will be missing Cole Kmet, who's having yet another solid season at the tight end position, on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Chicago's main beneficiary may not be who everyone has their eyes on, though.
Rookie tight end Colston Loveland is the obvious one: he played a season-high 46 snaps in Week 7, and that number should skyrocket on Sunday.
But for a team that has been regularly using two tight ends, Loveland can't simply pick up all the slack Kmet's absence would leave. And there's not another tight end in the building capable of it. Durham Smythe, the new TE2 if Kmet sits, has been a glorified OL this year, with 0 targets in 99 snaps. Any TE3 behind him would have to be a practice squad elevation.
So instead, it's a wide receiver who could be starting down an improved opportunity. Enter DJ Moore, who has the chance to shed doubts about his highly-compensated future in the 312.
DJ Moore Has Make-or-Break Opportunity if Kmet is Ruled Out
Kmet not only vacates some valuable red zone targets, but he's also quietly been one of the Bears used most to stretch the field. He's second on the team behind only Rome Odunze in average depth of target (aDOT; 11.2). Loveland ranks No. 3, and Moore is fourth at 8.3 yards.
So while Ben Johnson has been using both his tight ends to stretch the field, that won't be an option without Kmet. Defenses will not need to respect Smythe. Instead, Moore could handle some of that responsibility.
He's largely been shoehorned into a short-yardage role in Chicago, with aDOTs of 8.3 and 7.5 yards over the last two seasons, while he thrived as a deep threat early in his career with the Panthers. He eclipsed a 13.0-yard aDOT in two of his final three seasons in Carolina.
Rome Odunze has become the clear WR1 in Chicago's receiving corps. It's happened right on time for the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Moore has had to step aside for Odunze, but that doesn't mean he can no longer get his.
Moore may never end up a 98-catch receiver again like he was last season, but he can have the kind of season Keenan Allen had last year (70 catches, 744 yards) regularly. Being that he's under contract through 2029, he'll have plenty of chances to do so in the Windy City. That is, unless Ryan Poles wanted to explore trading him to a team hit with the injury bug in need of a WR1.
It'd be a dramatic, unforeseen move, which at 4-2, probably isn't necessary, and still wouldn't with a loss to a Ravens team returning Lamar Jackson, though it might be if the losing streak extended to two against the Cincinnati Bengals the following week.
It's on Moore to make the most of being part of one of the NFC North's best 1-2 receiving punches, assuming that doesn't happen. Some may question if he'll ever reach his ceiling, but he doesn't need to be a superstar to make it work for the Bears.
Just the sidekick to one.