5 comparisons to Cole Kmet rookie season with Chicago Bears
2. Coby Fleener
Coby Fleener was drafted 34th overall. That is nine picks ahead of where Kmet went, although we once again see the comparison in a second-round tight end. With that in mind, Fleener and Kmet did share pretty similar statistics during their rookie seasons.
| Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | From | To | AV | G | Rec | Yds | TD | Y/R | Lng |
| 1 | Coby Fleener | 2012 | 2012 | 2 | 12 | 26 | 281 | 2 | 10.8 | 26 |
| 2 | Cole Kmet | 2020 | 2020 | 2 | 16 | 28 | 243 | 2 | 8.7 | 38 |
Coby Fleener was fortunate that he got to play with Andrew Luck, his former college teammate during his rookie season. Still, with two fewer catches than Kmet, he put up 38 more yards. That is strong in yards per catch, and when he and Luck were on the same page it was strong.
However, like any tight end, he was struggling to adjust to the NFL. For what it is worth Fleener did have a better run-blocking grade as a rookie than Cole Kmet did. The Colts also had Dwayne Allen as a rookie at that point too, so while he was not competing with Jimmy Graham, there were two tight end options in the offense.
In his second season Fleener put up over 600 yards, and in year three he went for over 700 yards and eight touchdowns. Some may be turned off by the name, but if years two and three can feature that ability, then Kmet will be a strong tight end.