Cole Kmet had the best season of his young career so far in 2021, finishing with 612 yards. That is decent production for a tight end. The problem was he failed to score a single touchdown. A baffling stat considering his 6’6 size and obvious strength. Then again, when you’re only targeted four times inside the 10-yard line (12 in the red zone), it isn’t easy to score touchdowns. That was the fault of the coaching staff more than him.
Hopes are high that head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy can fix that problem while continuing to help the former 2nd round pick evolve his overall game. The 23-year-old spoke to the media on Tuesday following another OTA practice. He talked about how he really likes the new offense and what it can do for tight ends, referencing Robert Tonyan in Green Bay and George Kittle in San Francisco.
Kmet knows though that he can’t rely entirely on the scheme.
If he wants to reach the next level, he’ll have to keep working on his own game. It sounds like Getsy and the coaching staff knew exactly what they wanted him to focus on. He explained during the presser that it boiled down to two things. Every catch he makes from now on must be made with the hands. No letting the ball into his body. Secondly, blocks must involve more violence. Two things he indeed struggled with last year.
Last season, Kmet had five dropped passes, second-worst on the team behind Darnell Mooney (9). They often came at inopportune times as well. If he wants to put himself in the upper class of NFL tight ends, those things can’t happen. As for the blocking, he had five penalties while allowing four pressures and two sacks on 70 snaps. These are reasons why critics remain skeptical of him.
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Cole Kmet is poised to take a big step in 2022.
There are three reasons for this. First is the new system. Though he isn’t a traditional type the wide zone offense prefers in terms of athletic profile, Kmet is good enough to fit most of what it likes to do. The scheme is quite adept at finding ways to get the tight end open. Then there is his connection with Fields. It was evident towards the end of 2021 that the two were starting to gain some strong chemistry. In the five games before the quarterback’s season-ending injury against Baltimore, they connected 19 times for 215 yards.
Last but not least is maturity. Cole Kmet is still quite young. He’s the age most players are when they first come out of college. Yet he already has two NFL seasons under his belt. History shows that players get better as they gain experience and confidence. That was evident last season despite the miscues. If he can tighten up his game, he can graduate from part-time sideshow to genuine weapon.
The Bears would love nothing better.
If he morphs into something like that, it presents one less problem for GM Ryan Poles when he goes about fixing the offense next off-season.