It is crazy to realize the Chicago Bears invented the modern tight end position. Nobody thought of it as anything other than an extra blocker before Mike Ditka arrived in the early 1960s. Then he became a dangerous receiving weapon that made five Pro Bowls. Surprisingly, the organization never tried to duplicate that success. They had some solid tight ends over the years, like Emery Moorehead, Desmond Clark, and Greg Olsen. Yet it wasn’t until Martellus Bennett arrived that Chicago finally saw somebody else from that position make the Pro Bowl in 2014. Now Cole Kmet is threatening to break through.
That may sound crazy. It would’ve been only a month ago. That is how fast things have changed. Kmet currently leads all NFC tight ends with five touchdown catches. His one drawback to this point is having only 274 yards, but 218 of those have come in the past six games. If that trend holds, he will finish this season with 528 yards and eight touchdowns. That could be good enough to get him into the Pro Bowl conversation. Regardless, it would be the best performance by a Bears tight end in almost a decade.
The development of Cole Kmet is enormous for the Bears.
They badly needed somebody besides Justin Fields to take advantage of their opportunities in this new offense. Luke Getsy has been the tight end’s biggest cheerleader for months. People rolled their eyes when he kept talking Kmet up. It turns out the offensive coordinator might’ve known something others didn’t. It is crazy to think this guy turned 23 years old in March. He is only scratching the surface of his potential. People keep talking about how he isn’t Travis Kelce or George Kittle. Maybe not, but apparently, he is a good player.
Chicago needs more of those. The Cole Kmet development is such a cool story. He grew up a Bears, got drafted by his team, and now might be on the cusp of becoming one of the better tight ends they’ve ever had. His connection with Fields continues to produce big plays every week. They have a chance to build on that against another iffy defense next Sunday in Atlanta. A few more performances like the Detroit game, and he’ll be in the conversation for the Pro Bowl.
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