It’s been two games. That hasn’t stopped people from making declarations on a player’s career. Colston Loveland was drafted 10th overall by the Chicago Bears. By all accounts, he had a terrific summer in training camp, looking like the big, athletic weapon he was at Michigan. Yet through two weeks, he’s been mostly silent in the passing game outside of two catches for 12 yards on three targets. Accusations are being thrown everywhere. Ben Johnson isn’t scheming anything up for him. The rookie isn’t getting open. I decided to see if I could find the truth about what was going on.
What I found was somewhat shocking. While sifting through every play he was on the field, I excluded runs, pass blocks, all three of his targets, and any instance where the quarterback was immediately under pressure. All told, there were nine plays where Loveland appeared open and the more preferred target. Caleb Williams often didn’t look his way or chose not to throw it. The rookie isn’t the problem. He’s been getting open more than enough. The ball just isn’t coming his way.
Colston Loveland is at the mercy of a QB who avoids tight ends.
Okay, maybe that is a little unfair. The truth is, Williams never used tight ends much in college. Those offenses at Oklahoma and USC were geared toward the wide receivers. Tight ends were almost exclusively blockers. Throwing him into a system where that position is far more present in the passing game is probably a major shift for Williams. That said, he can’t keep passing up opportunities like this every week. Colston Loveland is doing his job. He’s presenting a big target who understands how to create space. Whether the ball comes his way is totally out of his control. That falls at the feet of the quarterback and the coach calling the offense. Johnson has already stated he plans to change that moving forward. Will Williams follow suit? Let’s hope so.
