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There were a lot of bright spots for the Chicago Bears in 2025.
You saw first-year head coach Ben Johnson's vision come to life with a team that loved living on the edge for much of the year. Phenom young quarterback Caleb Williams took the next step as a franchise passer and is clearly champing at the bit to progress even more given his reported weight loss. Darnell Wright established himself as a franchise-caliber bookend en route to an All-Pro campaign. And, of course, there was the breakout of Colston Loveland, who had one of the best rookie seasons by a tight end in NFL history despite only really earning consistent targets around the midway point of the year.
That's what makes Loveland's potential, who is still only 22 years old, so exciting to the Bears. Because if he could catch 58 passes for 713 yards and six touchdowns on only a half-season's worth of work, then it stands to reason that he could become a bona fide superstar when he's a focal point in the Chicago offense from the outset.
(Note: Loveland notched an impressive eight receptions for 137 yards in the Bears' playoff win over the Green Bay Packers.)
Williams himself spoke to Loveland's potential at his media availability on Wednesday. When asked about what Loveland can be for Williams as a reliable target downfield and a great safety valve in the Bears' offense, Williams didn't mince his words. He said that Loveland has the capacity to become the NFL's premier tight end for the foreseeable future.
You know ... that's not that crazy of a thing to say!
Given what we saw of Loveland last year and how the Bears are so ready to build more opportunity for Loveland into their offense, Williams' claim about his tight end doesn't feel remotely lofty. It actually feels quite reasonable when also taking into account the current landscape of tight ends in pro football. Assuming Loveland makes another leap, his competition for the title of "NFL's best tight end" will likely primarily come from the Arizona Cardinals' Trey McBride, the Las Vegas Raiders' Brock Bowers, and perhaps others like the Green Bay Packers' Tucker Kraft.
Put another way: There is no definitive Rob Gronkowski or Travis Kelce to contend with at the moment. This best tight end title is ripe for the taking. Loveland is certainly in a great position to do it.
At the time of this writing, Loveland's 2025 campaign gives him the 12th-best rookie season by a tight end in terms of receiving yards. Please note that some of his peers above him had 20-plus (or even more) targets than Loveland as a rookie.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Caleb Williams used just 10 words to sum up Colston Loveland's ultimate potential
Continue reading...
You saw first-year head coach Ben Johnson's vision come to life with a team that loved living on the edge for much of the year. Phenom young quarterback Caleb Williams took the next step as a franchise passer and is clearly champing at the bit to progress even more given his reported weight loss. Darnell Wright established himself as a franchise-caliber bookend en route to an All-Pro campaign. And, of course, there was the breakout of Colston Loveland, who had one of the best rookie seasons by a tight end in NFL history despite only really earning consistent targets around the midway point of the year.
That's what makes Loveland's potential, who is still only 22 years old, so exciting to the Bears. Because if he could catch 58 passes for 713 yards and six touchdowns on only a half-season's worth of work, then it stands to reason that he could become a bona fide superstar when he's a focal point in the Chicago offense from the outset.
(Note: Loveland notched an impressive eight receptions for 137 yards in the Bears' playoff win over the Green Bay Packers.)
Williams himself spoke to Loveland's potential at his media availability on Wednesday. When asked about what Loveland can be for Williams as a reliable target downfield and a great safety valve in the Bears' offense, Williams didn't mince his words. He said that Loveland has the capacity to become the NFL's premier tight end for the foreseeable future.
You know ... that's not that crazy of a thing to say!
Given what we saw of Loveland last year and how the Bears are so ready to build more opportunity for Loveland into their offense, Williams' claim about his tight end doesn't feel remotely lofty. It actually feels quite reasonable when also taking into account the current landscape of tight ends in pro football. Assuming Loveland makes another leap, his competition for the title of "NFL's best tight end" will likely primarily come from the Arizona Cardinals' Trey McBride, the Las Vegas Raiders' Brock Bowers, and perhaps others like the Green Bay Packers' Tucker Kraft.
Put another way: There is no definitive Rob Gronkowski or Travis Kelce to contend with at the moment. This best tight end title is ripe for the taking. Loveland is certainly in a great position to do it.
How did Colston Loveland's rookie season compare to other notable tight ends?
At the time of this writing, Loveland's 2025 campaign gives him the 12th-best rookie season by a tight end in terms of receiving yards. Please note that some of his peers above him had 20-plus (or even more) targets than Loveland as a rookie.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Caleb Williams used just 10 words to sum up Colston Loveland's ultimate potential
Continue reading...
