2021 Chicago Bears Preview: Tight End

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: September 10, 2021

(Photo credit: James Gilbert, Getty Images)

Jimmy Graham returns after a season that saw him find the end zone eight times. While he’s not the star he was in New Orleans and Seattle, he showed he still has a little bit left in the tank and can contribute to the Bears’ offense as their “U” or receiving tight end. From last year’s team preview:

“Graham should at least provide a quality TE option in the passing game, which the Chicago offense sorely lacked a year ago. Graham’s never been known for his blocking, but as long as he’s not an outright liability, he’s a serious upgrade over the group of JAGs that populated the tight end room a year ago.”

Yep. In addition to those aforementioned eight touchdowns, Graham racked up 456 yards on 50 catches. While stability at the QB position should help Graham, Cole Kmet should be ready for an expanded role this year. Your author predicts those two factors even out and the Bears get similar productivity from Graham this year.

Cole Kmet was drafted by the Bears in the second round a year ago, much to the chagrin of your author. While your author sees a solid tight end who should be a quality contributor for years to come, he doesn’t see much star potential. Think Kyle Rudolph. In his rookie year, Kmet caught 28 passes for 243 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Reports out of camp have been positive as he looks to build on that. Larry Mayer:

“Given that late-season emergence, it was no surprise when Nagy said earlier this week that Kmet’s “role is definitely going to increase” this year. Just as he did during offseason practices, the young tight end is determined to prove in training camp that he deserves the expanded playing time.”

Over the off-season, Kmet looked to his contemporaries as he works to grow as a player and attended the Tight End U summit. From the same Mayer article:

“Kmet enjoyed not only learning more about the position he plays but also getting to know his counterparts throughout the league.

“That was great,” Kmet said. “It’s funny how similar we all really are. A lot of us kind of have the same type of background, same type of personality; whether it’s a play style or things like that, a lot of common things between one another, and that was really cool to see.”

It was especially cool for Kmet to learn from perennial Pro Bowlers and Super Bowl champions. And although the second-year pro is less accomplished than some of the tight ends he spent time with in Nashville, he felt that he fit in “100 percent” with the group.

“Everyone there was awesome,” Kmet said. “Being able to feed off of one another was great. I got a lot out of it and definitely felt like I belonged there, for sure.”

…

“”Coach worked with Travis back in Kansas City, and that’s kind of what he’s familiar with,” Kmet said. “The play style that I kind of have looked after in my college days has always been [Mark] Bavaro types, [Rob] Gronkowski types, so kind of meshing those two types of play styles together has been really beneficial for me this offseason.””

Kmet is definitely a “Y” or in-line tight end. He’s fundamentally sound and a strong blocker, but doesn’t possess the athleticism to be a dynamic threat like guys like George Kittle or Travis Kelce. If he turns into anything remotely approximating Gronk, it’s “woo, go team” and I’ll officially stop being upset that we could’ve had Antoine Winfield, Jr.

Jesse James was a late addition to the team and has drawn positive mentions thus far from camp. A seventh-year veteran out of Penn State, James had a few okay years with the Steelers before heading to Detroit where he didn’t do much in two years with the Lions. The Bears don’t need him to be a star, just a quality depth guy. This space asserts he can be that.

J.P. Holtz has been mostly used as a fullback since coming to Chicago in 2019 from the practice squad of the Washington Seriously, How Have You Still Not Picked A Names. He’s not going to be more than that and draws mention in this preview almost entirely so that your author can make a joke about Daniel Snyder’s incompetence.