Chicago’s veteran tight end breaks down how Loveland’s elite blend of size and speed forces defensive coordinators into impossible personnel choices, creating a lethal advantage for the Bears.
The Chicago Bears have one of the best tight ends in the NFL at their disposal for another year.
Colston Loveland proved he was among the best at the position last season as a rookie. He made plays in the regular season and playoffs whenever his team needed him the most.
He had multiple 100-yard games last season. One was in Week 9 versus the Cincinnati Bengals, and the other was in the Wild Card against the Green Bay Packers.
His teammates have seen firsthand just how hard it is to stop him. Fellow tight end Cole Kmet recently spoke to the media and was asked how he would stop Loveland if he were the defensive coordinator.
Kmet tried his best but couldn't think of any way to stop Loveland.
"Yeah, I think it's tough," Kmet said. "It's tough because, you know, those DB bodies are not big enough to cover him, and he's definitely elusive and faster than a lot of linebackers you're going to see in the NFL. So, it's going to be tough. It'll be interesting to see how teams go about it, especially when, you know, if we got 13 out there. You know, 12 or 13 personnel. You for sure don't want the backer on them, you know? You don't want the safety. They go small on us, like we're going to run it down your throat. So, you know, he's definitely a weapon that opens up a lot of things for the offense, and I'll be interested to see how defensive coordinators handle that throughout the season"
With Loveland, there really isn't a good way to slow him down. If you put a linebacker on him, he's going to be faster than them and get open.
You could bring a safety down to try and cover him, but that means there's one less safety in the back half of the secondary.
The same thing goes for a cornerback. If you try to put a corner on him, it takes a cornerback out of coverage to try to contain a tight end.
As Kmet said, if teams try to bring on smaller defenders, it will motivate the Bears to keep running the ball right at them.
The Bears can do a lot of things with Loveland on the field. Whether it's taking a linebacker or defensive back out of coverage or forcing teams to play small so they can run the football with ease, he is more than just a pass-catching tight end.
Loveland is a game changer.
