Chicago Bears: Why Cole Kmet might surprise us as a rookie

Can Cole Kmet break rookie tight end records? Will he become the next best thing and help improve the Chicago Bears offense?

The Chicago Bears rookie tight end is making himself known to the coaching staff. I have not been high on Cole Kmet from day one. Much like most Chicago Bears fans, I was not expecting Chicago to draft a tight end early. Most of the tight end’s the Chicago Bears scouted were drafted after round four.

Something is intriguing about Cole Kmet though. He is big, fast, and has excellent hands. Those are robust qualities that a tight end should have. The thing that intrigues me the most about Cole Kmet is how well he finds open space. Numerous times I saw Ian Book run for his life only to find Cole Kmet as the safety net. That could be a bad sign considering that might mean that Cole Kmet isn’t getting open right away, but he might also be the third or fourth read in the progression.

We know for a fact that the tight end is not the third or fourth read in Matt Nagy’s offense. It is possible that Kmet may take a backseat to Jimmy Graham early on, but his abilities could vault him into a more dominant role as the season progresses.

Transitioning from college to the NFL is not an easy task for most rookies, but the move is even more difficult for young tight ends. Kmet has already proven to Nagy that he knows the playbook. Since following in his father’s footsteps by playing for the Chicago Bears was always a dream of his, I have a feeling he will be putting in extra time to not squander away this opportunity.