Colston Loveland Predicted To Finally Break The Mike Ditka Curse At Tight End

The Chicago Bears, believe it or not, used to be a franchise that was on the cutting edge of NFL advancement at one point in time. Late owner George Halas was famous for his willingness to try new things if it meant winning more games. He was the first to utilize a training camp in the offseason. He embraced the T-formation offense, which used motion to create mismatches. Halas also became the first to see the tight end position as a legitimate offensive weapon. That is how the Bears came to draft Mike Ditka, who would go on to become a Hall of Famer. Nobody has really measured up to him in the years since. Could Colston Loveland change that?

One of the wilder bits of information fans haven’t realized is that Ditka remains the one and only tight end in franchise history to be named All-Pro. In fact, Martellus Bennett is the only other one to make a Pro Bowl. For all the work Chicago did to make the position relevant in the NFL, it didn’t do enough to exploit that. It took them over 60 years to finally add somebody that people see as a true star. Pro Football Focus went so far as to predict Loveland will become an All-Pro, ending a drought that has lasted since 1964.

TE Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

The Bears’ offense exploded last season, placing ninth in success rate during Ben Johnson’s first year. A significant part of that improved efficiency was Loveland, who looked unstoppable late in the season. Indeed, Loveland’s 86.9 PFF receiving grade was the second-best among qualified tight ends from Week 9 onward, as were his 34 first downs gained.

On an offense full of young — and somewhat unproven — playmakers, Chicago will assuredly continue to funnel the ball through the game-changing Loveland this season. With Travis Kelce declining of late and George Kittle’s status uncertain after suffering a torn Achilles in the playoffs, Loveland should be firmly in the All-Pro mix alongside Trey McBride and Brock Bowers.

Signs were already there that Loveland was the real deal.

It wasn’t overly surprising that Bears head coach Ben Johnson opted to bring his 1st round pick along slowly. The last thing he wanted to do was force the rookie onto the field and have him get overwhelmed. They left Cole Kmet as the starter, sprinkling Loveland in more and more as the season went on. Then the Cincinnati game happened. The rookie became a focal point of a 47-point explosion, including the game-winning touchdown. From there, Loveland transformed into the Bears’ most dangerous weapon.

Over the final four games of the year, defenses had no answers for him. He torched Green Bay in the wild card round and probably would’ve made a huge difference against L.A. in the divisional round before being sidelined with a concussion. He finished the season leading the team with 713 yards. That was despite ranking just third on the team with 82 targets. With D.J. Moore gone and Rome Odunze’s role in the offense shifting, it feels like Loveland has a much higher margin coming his way next season.

The stat threshold he needs to hit is pretty clear.

There has not been an All-Pro tight end in the NFL to finish with less than 1,000 yards in a season since Tony Gonzalez way back in 2012. Looking at the averages, Colston Loveland will need at least 1,000 this season, along with around seven touchdowns, to have a legitimate chance to claim that honor. No Bears tight end has reached that bar since Ditka in 1961.

Loveland is as well-positioned as anybody has ever been to do it. He obviously has the talent. He also has a gifted quarterback, Caleb Williams, throwing him the ball. Last but not least, he has Johnson, a former tight ends coach, running the offense. As long as he stays healthy, breaking that All-Pro streak is well within his reach.