Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy has been adamant during his time with the Bears that the most important position for his offense is the tight end position. When he was hired in January of 2018, Nagy made it a point that the team sign the best free agent tight end available that offseason, and they did by signing Trey Burton. Now two years later, Chicago has moved on from Burton, and it is now up to rookie second-round selection Cole Kmet to fill the void.
The Bears drafted Kmet with the 43rd overall pick in this year’s draft. The Notre Dame tight end will provide Bears’ quarterbacks a massive target over the middle as he is 6’6ft, and weighs 262 pounds. Kmet will pair with the veteran tight end, Jimmy Graham, to reverse the struggles of Bears tight ends in 2019. Chicago’s offense was one of the worst in the league, and it was partially due in part to the lack of production they received from the tight end position. Of the four tight ends that played last season, the group combined for just 44 receptions, and only two touchdowns. Burton battled recurring injuries and was let go following the end of the season.
For Nagy’s offense to work, the tight end needs to help clear the middle of the field to free up passing routes for the running backs and for wide receivers that are working underneath. At the start of the 2018 season, the Bears offense found success going to Burton, which enabled running back Tarik Cohen to have success later in the season. In the team’s first three games of 2018, Chicago’s starting tight end logged nine catches for 90 yards and a receiving touchdown. In the following two games, Cohen recorded back to back 100-yard receiving games along with touchdowns in both games.
Last season, with no tight end to help carry the linebacker up the field, Cohen’s receiving numbers dropped significantly. The small running back had no open-field to run with the ball. After receiving a pass out of the backfield, he was consistently caught trying to move sideline to sideline rather than straight ahead, which cost him yards. Although Cohen caught more passes in 2019 than in 2018, his receiving yards and yards per reception were half of what he produced in 2018.
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This season, Kmet will have the same responsibility but will be utilized in a slightly different way when working with Graham. The rookie tight end will need to be a short to middle range target for either Nick Foles or Mitchell Trubisky to provide them a safe completion for positive gain. Doing so will put the Bears in less third and long situations while still helping to free up either Cohen or David Montgomery coming out of the backfield to make a catch. Graham will be the team’s downfield receiving tight end that will try to take advantage of the attention paid to wide receiver Allen Robinson and possibly the running backs. Kmet will be vital for the team in red-zone and goal-line situations given his size. Whoever will be the Bears’ starting quarterback will have three big-bodied targets that can win on fade passes and jump-balls against smaller defenders.
If Chicago can make the offensive improvements they are hoping to make, the Bears can return to the success they found in 2018 when they won 12 games and clinched the NFC North Division Title. For the offense to be successful, they will need their tight ends to step up, especially Kmet. Once the tight end becomes a threat, it will create a trickle-down effect for the rest of the offense, especially for the running backs. Chicago’s rookie tight end doesn’t need to be the next George Kittle but needs to be a reliable target to help move the chains.
