Colston Loveland and the Ben Johnson seal of approval

To casual Bears fans, Colston Loveland was an underwhelming, uninspiring pick for the Bears at No. 10 overall in the NFL Draft on Thursday night. Not only is the Michigan product a tight end (when the Bears have veteran Cole Kmet), but he wasn’t even the “name” tight end in this draft. 

Penn State’s Tyler Warren was seen as the more popular choice, a better fit as a gadget type of weapon in Ben Johnson’s offense. He seemed to be the tight end Johnson would want. In fact,in my persual of 70 mock drafts, Warren was the most popular choice of all players to be the Bears’ selection (18 of the mock drafts I looked at had the Bears taking him; 15 had them taking Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty; 14 had them taking Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks.)

So the choice of Loveland didn’t set off celebrations like the selection of quarterback Caleb Williams did last year. “The room is silent right now,” said CHGO/Hoge & Jahns Bears reporter Adam Hoge at the CHGO draft show in Chicago.

History eventually will determine the quality of that pick. But for now, it’s not a pick that — on the surface — should slow the momentum at Halas Hall and the guarded optimism among Bears fans that the Bears are headed toward a run of sustained success. 

For one thing, the selection of Loveland continued the trend of focusing every effort for the rebuild on giving Ben Johnson the best chance to succeed — by getting his offense right. Poles now has traded for guard Joe Thuney, signed center Drew Dalman and guard Jonah Jackson in free agency and drafted Loveland in the first round. If Johnson isn’t actually sharing personnel responsibilities with Poles, that’s the effect. If anything, Poles, who has had his share of missteps in the rebuild, knows Johnson is his key to success. 

And while nobody knows exactly how anyone will fit in Johnson’s offense with the Bears, this entire chapter of Poles’ tenure is rooted in trust in Johnson — that any player will either max out or overachieve in his offense. That’s how it worked in Detroit, whether it was a fourth-round wide receiver (Amon-Ra St. Brown), a third-round guard (Jackson), a second-round tight end (Sam Laporta) or a first-round tackle (Penei Sewell) or running back (Jahmyr Gibbs). 

Poles lauded the 6-5, 248-pound Loveland’s versatility, toughness and his infectious energy level and competitiveness, but he trait to keep an eye on is his “dynamic skillset to separate.” All those other things are great, but getting open without having to be schemed open is a huge key to success. It has made Travis Kelce the star he is.

If Loveland can get open on his own, Johnson’s offense presumably will do the rest. That’s the theory on draft night, which is sometimes more hopeful than accurate. We never did see the skills that were supposed to make Adam Shaheen a Gronk-like runaway train when he was drafted in the second round (ahead of George Kittle!) In 2017.

Like Shaheen, Loveland is supposed to be a different kind of tight end than we’re used to seeing in Chicago. He once played nine different positions in a high school game in Idaho (quarterback, running back, wide receiver, slot receiver, tight end, free safety, strong safety, outside linebacker and defensive end). 

And, as part of any feel-good draft-night storyline, Loveland arrives with a background reminiscent of Bears legend Bronko Nagurski, and the tales of his incredible strength developed on the family farm in Minnesota — some of those tales taller than others. 

Loveland also grew up on a farm, in Gooding, Idaho (pop. 3,802). “It’s not a joke, like Idaho-tough,” Poles told reporters at Halas Hall on Thursday night, “I asked him about his hand strength, because not only can you see it when he catches the ball, but when he blocks. And he was like, ‘Have you ever put up wire fence in Idaho before?’ I said, ‘No.’ But that explains — he’s been doing some kind of labor that kind of makes him who he is.” 

This draft already seems below par by NFL standards. It wasn’t worth trading up from No. 10 and there were virtually no takers to trade down. So Colston Loveland at No. 10 it was, and the Bears have to make the most of it. Except now — until further notice — they have a better chance to do that.