This is a rough cycle for the Bears. They’re in the midst of a six-game losing streak, the coach and GM are on the hot seat, and memories of the opportunity to draft Deshaun Watson are being pushed back into the forefront again.
But it’s not all bad.
Rookie tight end Cole Kmet is a player on the rise, and that’s the most encouraging development we’ve seen in quite some time:
Better late than never. But never late is better.
Finally, the Bears are nearing optimal usage of the Notre Dame product. It’s been a process to get to this point. But as analyst Tom Thayer points out, Kmet really showed off his receiving skills last week. It’s almost as if the Bears’ offensive minds saw his college scouting report and were finally willing to give him an expanded role because they’ve tried to do things elsewhere in the passing game with minimal success.
What’s most encouraging about this development is that it’s not just a one-time thing. Kmet has been trending in the right direction for weeks now. It started humbly, with Kmet out-snapping Demetrius Harris on Monday Night Football against the Vikings. After the bye, Kmet out-snapped Jimmy Graham against the Packers on Sunday Night Football. And finally, Kmet did it again — even garnering a red zone target that turned into a touchdown. And in a year that’s left so much to be desired on the offensive side of the ball, getting Kmet geared up for a bigger role is the most important development for now, as well as the future.
Sure, it would’ve been nice to have this Kmet from the outset of the season. But it’s unrealistic to expect a tight end to jump on the scene and provide impact. The learning curve is steep. Throw in trying to learn during an offseason impacted by a global pandemic, and it gets that much more challenging. With all that perspective, it’s good to see the arrow pointing up on Kmet at this point of the year.
Are the Bears out of the woods offensively? Hardly. Could Kmet do more? Sure. He still needs more targets. And for that to happen, the offensive game planners and play-creators need to implement some more routes for Kmet down the stretch. The Bears have four games left to really hone in on developing young talent. I hope this Kmet example is the first of several we’ll see as the season winds down.