While stars Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet dominate the spotlight, Chicago’s quarterback is hyping up a powerhouse rookie as the secret weapon.
Outside of Caleb Williams, obviously, one of the more exciting players to watch on the Chicago Bears last season was, without a doubt, rookie tight end Colston Loveland.
General Manager Ryan Poles took the best player available 10th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, and it paid huge dividends.
Loveland ended up leading the team with 713 receiving yards and six touchdowns. His great season continued into the playoffs, where he had 137 receiving yards against the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card.
Loveland is a great player, but people forget the impact that Cole Kmet has. He is more suited as a blocker, but as we saw throughout the year, he became a valuable asset in the red zone.
Kmet's most significant play was definitely the touchdown pass he caught from Williams in the Divisional Round versus the Los Angeles Rams. Williams threw up a Hail Mary that Kmet happened to be in the perfect spot for.
In the 2026 NFL Draft, the Bears added another tight end to the mix. They drafted Stanford tight end Sam Roush in the third round. He isn't expected to challenge either Loveland or Kmet for a starting job yet, but Williams is very excited to work with him.
Williams appeared on the latest episode of "New Heights," and Travis Kelce highlighted how incredible the Bears' tight end room is. Kelce focused on Loveland and Kmet, but Williams made people know how special Roush was.
"I got a third one now," Williams said. "Y'all haven't seen the third one now. There's always more. We got a new guy. New rookie guy. He's built like the other guys. Also, tall. He's smooth. He's, you know, he's a freak of nature. Run block, pass block, catch, all of that. Yeah, whatever we need. I'm juiced. It's always an advantage when you can have one tight end, but when you have three that can do all, you know, it's a big advantage and up to us. So, I'm excited."
Roush had 545 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He comes in at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds. So, he absolutely has the kind of build where he can help as a blocker and a receiver.
It'll be interesting to see how much playing time Roush gets at first, with Kmet ahead of him in the tight end room. Kmet's contract doesn't run out until 2028, but Roush is a great option behind him if the Bears do decide to move on from him when the time comes.
Roush could see more playing time if the Bears continue lining up in 13 personnel on game days. It's easy to overlook Roush when Chicago has Loveland and Kmet, but don't forget about the promising rookie in Roush.
