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

Cole Kmet looks the part

The next thing I like about Cole Kmet is his willingness to block. Something that Adam Shaheen hasn’t shown yet in his career as a Chicago Bear in training camp or on the field in games. Shaheen possesses the size to become a dominant blocker but is lacking the desire to block.

He seems to just want to make catches. Since Shaheen dominated his small-school competition, it doesn’t surprise me that he is more focused on catching passes instead of de-cleating his opponent across from him. Kmet has not bullied anybody on tape, but neither has the likes of Kelce or Ertz. A tight end doesn’t need to be a tackle for the offense, but they do need to show that they want to stop the opposing defender from being able to attack the offense.

My favorite trait that Cole Kmet has is his ability not to be tackled by the first man. That is my same favorite trait that I have for David Montgomery. Kmet refuses to let a corner or safety tackle him by themselves. Kmet is 6’6 262 pounds; he should never be easily tackled by a 5’11 190 defensive back on first contact.

I fully expect at some point for Cole Kmet to make the angry runs segment on NFL’s “Good Morning Football.” Getting on that segment is more about fun than anything else, but it does show how tough a player is.

Football is a game of inches, so when a player can grind out two or three more yards on any given play, things will add up throughout the game. My bold prediction is that Cole Kmet will add his name to the list of highest producing rookie tight ends in the last 15 years in the NFL.