Chicago Bears: These four tight ends will win the depth chart battle

The Chicago Bears’ potential starters at tight end

In order to improve the tight end core, the Bears added three tight ends all fighting for the starting ‘Y’ and ‘U’ roles. Both Demetrius Harris and Jimmy Graham were signed after they were cut by their respective teams to be the main starting two tight ends. Then, the Bears drafted Cole Kmet in the second round to compete with Harris for the starting job at ‘Y’ tight end.

Graham is expected to be the starting ‘U’ with almost no competition. The aging tight end was brought in essentially to replace Burton after he couldn’t stay on the field due to health. The good thing about Graham is his availability. He hasn’t missed a game in four years even at his age. Graham had a down season in 2019 but impressed in the playoffs when he got the ball.

Harris will be competing with Kmet for the ‘Y’ tight end. The former basketball player spent five seasons in Kansas City playing alongside star tight end Travis Kelce in a similar system to the Bears. He’s a very good blocking tight end that hasn’t really done much as a pro due to who he was playing alongside. He is an upgrade regardless compared to what the Bears had last season.

Finally, Kmet will be competing for the ‘Y’ tight end role as well. Fans have been begging the Bears to do something about the weakness at tight end, and Pace pulled the trigger selecting Kmet 43rd overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. Pace and Nagy were very high on Kmet and expect him to eventually run both the ‘Y’ and ‘U’ position in his future. They expect him to be their tight end of the future.

Whoever loses the battle between Kmet and Harris will likely be the backup for the Bears. Kmet will likely learn both positions so that if Graham goes down, they will be fine.