Chicago Bears: 5 Players who will suffer most from a shortened preseason

Cole Kmet, TE – Chicago Bears top draft pick

Tight ends take the longest to transition from the college level to the NFL level for some reason. The blocking assignments are probably the biggest area that seems to take time. Not to mention, every rookie needs time to catch up to the speed of the NFL. Preseason games are typically very vanilla from a scheme perspective, but at least the rookies are able to play at game speed.

Kmet was drafted with the 43rd overall pick and the Chicago Bears first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was not brought in to take a back seat in 2020. In fact, he should see a decent amount of playing time as a rookie. Nagy keeps talking Kmet up because he cannot stump him on the Zoom calls, but knowing what to do and where to be is not the same as being able to execute it. Until we see how he responds on the field, this is as hopeful as we can be about Kmet’s 2020 season.

Right now, I would expect Kmet to be slotted behind Demetrius Harris on the depth chart. Jimmy Graham will play the “U” tight end and Harris will play the “Y” tight end. This means that Graham will line up off the line of scrimmage more often than not and Harris and Kmet will be the in-line blockers who still have the ability to run routes. Expect plenty of two-tight end sets this year.

My hope was Kmet would blow us away in camp and preseason. If he did this, he would have found his way ahead of Harris on the depth chart for Week One. With limited opportunities, this will probably not happen now.