Colston Loveland is one of the very few tight ends ever drafted in the top 10. You can probably count the number on two hands. Another trend is that most of those players went on to have a great career. Each of the last five to go that high has made the Pro Bowl at least once. Mike Ditka was the only other tight end the Chicago Bears have taken that early. He, of course, went on to the Hall of Fame and had his jersey number retired. That should give you an idea of how high the expectations are for Loveland.
Often in these situations, the best people to ask are guys who have played the position before. Jake Butt has a unique perspective. Not only did he play tight end at Michigan, the same school as Loveland, but he spent time in the NFL as well. He knows what kind of player the 10th overall pick is and the challenges he’ll face at this level. That didn’t stop him from making an incredibly bold prediction to Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Forget a good career. He expects greatness.
Jake Butt’s Mackey Award — the honor bestowed annually upon college football’s best tight end — tells you he was quite the head-turning player at Michigan.
But he was no Colston Loveland. The talented TV analyst, who spent most of a brief NFL career with the Broncos and retired from the Bears in 2021, figured that out on a visit to Ann Arbor when he eyeballed Loveland in a Wolverines practice for the first time.
“I was like, ‘Who the [expletive] is that?’ ” Butt told the Sun-Times. “He’s different.”
Ten seasons, 70-catches-a-year different? That’s Butt’s prediction for the Bears’ first-round pick.
Colston Loveland would be in G.O.A.T. territory with those numbers.
Presuming Butt is accurate, that is 1400 catches in a career. Tony Gonzalez currently holds the all-time record for tight end with 1,325. Expecting Colston Loveland to get there seems a bit unreasonable. He’ll need excellent health throughout that time and a quarterback who consistently gets him the football. If Caleb Williams reaches his potential, that second part is possible. Regardless, the prediction should tell you everything about how highly regarded Loveland is among his peers. Some may call Butt biased as a former Michigan man, but he gets paid to remain objective. He sees mountains of special in Loveland’s game. There are already signs in his first training camp practices. The Bears may have finally nailed one.
