Ben Johnson had a wealth of weapons at his disposal the past two seasons as the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator.
He added one Thursday night with his first pick as the Chicago Bears’ head coach. Chicago took Michigan tight end Colston Loveland No. 10 overall.
“Very rarely do you get a tight end that can threaten the defense at all three levels: short, intermediate, and he can go deep,” analyst Booger McFarland said on the ESPN broadcast. “As a defender, we don’t prepare for tight ends to go 30, 40, 50 yards down the field. He can do that. Essentially, he plays like a big wide receiver, and you talk about the matchup problems, giving a young quarterback (Caleb Williams) another chess piece to work with.”
Most experts had Penn State’s Tyler Warren projected as the No. 1 tight end in the draft, but the Bears took Loveland four spots ahead of Warren.
In three seasons at Michigan, the 6-foot-6 Loveland caught 117 passes for 1,466 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had a breakout 2023 campaign during the Wolverines’ national championship season and was the lone bright spot for the team’s passing offense last season that ranked No. 131 nationally.
Despite missing three games because of injury, the Idaho native led Michigan in receptions (56), receiving yards (582) and receiving TDs (five).
“I had them right next to each other on my list, so they’re both excellent players, different styles,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said of Loveland and Warren. “He’s a smooth mover. Kind of reminded me a bit of Mark Andrews, but quite honestly, you can put Sam Laporta on that list, who Ben Johnson had coached. He creates separation down the field with his routes. Once he gets the ball, he can transition quickly up the field and has tremendous speed. This guy is going to be able to come right in and make an impact for a team with Ben Johnson. They did a lot of 12 personnel in Detroit. They’re going to do a lot of 12 personnel in Chicago.”
The Bears have a veteran tight end on the roster in Cole Kmet, a former second-round pick, plus two impact receivers.
“He’s a tremendous athlete,” ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. said of Loveland. “He snatches the ball with his hands. Blocking needs to improve. But what do they want? They want a third receiving option, a receiving entity. You have DJ Moore. You have Rome Odunze for Cameron Williams. Now you add that big-time receiver who can get down the middle of the field, and he can make big catches. He has run after the catch ability.”
Loveland is the highest Michigan tight end selected since Paul Seymour in 1973, when he went seventh overall.
