The Chicago Bears offense was not good last season. It wasn’t even mediocre. They were 25th in passing, 27th in rushing, and 29th in scoring. The fast the team finished 8-8 is a testament to how great their defense was. GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy believe they have a good enough team to make a deep playoff run. They just had to make some tweaks to perform better offensively. One area deemed vital to this was the tight end position. That is why they signed Jimmy Graham and why they drafted Cole Kmet.
Both decisions were ridiculed. Graham because the Bears overpaid for him. Kmet because the team already had nine tight ends on the roster. What was the point of another? Matt Bowen of ESPN understood the decision. The former safety is widely respected as one of the best tape analysts in the business today. He feels Kmet couldn’t have gone to a better situation than Chicago.
“The Bears added veteran Jimmy Graham in free agency, but Kmet gives Matt Nagy’s offense a true inline tight end with the pass-catching skills to fit in his system. In addition to giving Chicago an extra gap in the run game as a blocker, Kmet can stretch the seams, run crossers/pops off play-action and RPOs, while also seeing the ball on inside sit routes to move the chains.
With a 6-foot-6, 262-pound frame and 4.7 40 speed, Kmet can rumble after the catch. I like what I see on tape there. The Bears already had an overcrowded tight end room, but I see Kmet as an instant contributor as a rookie because of his pro-style traits. They didn’t have a single tight end gain 100 yards last season, but that’s going to change in 2020.”
Cole Kmet is in a system made for tight ends
The Bears really wanted to run a lot of “12” personnel in 2019. That is an offensive alignment that features two tight ends, a running back, and two wide receivers. This formation can create a lot of options both in the running and passing games. However, as the season went on they started to do it less and less because they just didn’t have the horses at tight end to make it work. Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen were both injured. Nobody else could step up.
That’s unfortunate because this offense is made to feature the tight end position. Just look at Philadelphia and Kansas City as shining examples. They run similar schemes. Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz are among the most productive at their position in the NFL. This is where the Bears are trying to get. By drafting Kmet, it’s believed they took a step in that direction. Throw in Nick Foles, who loves using tight ends based on track record and it’s understandable why Bowen has high expectations for the rookie.
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