The Chicago Bears must build around these eight players in 2022

Chicago Bears Player to Build Around No. 4: Cole Kmet

Many Bears fans believe that Cole Kmet is just another bust of a draft pick for Ryan Pace. To think that at this point is honestly very pessimistic. I understand that many out there do not believe in Pace, and therefore, they do not believe in Kmet. However, Kmet is only halfway through his second season and honestly, he has already shown flashes of having the ability to be great in this league.

When I say great, I do not mean Travis Kelce great. I am not even going to put his ceiling as high as Darren Waller. I would put his ceiling at George Kittle though. Have you watched Kittle block? This is what I love about Kmet this season. He has been an above-average blocking tight end but still has the ability to become better and improve in the receiving game.

What we have seen lately though is exactly that — an improvement in the receiving game. Partly due to the scheme being used and partly due to growth, Kmet has gained 203 yards over the last four games. He only had 81 yards in the first five weeks. Targets is another area Kmet has seen an increase as of late. Kmet averaged 3.8 targets per game in the first five weeks and 6.3 targets per game in the last four.

With Justin Fields developing a connection with Darnell Mooney and the emergence of Cole Kmet, could the offensive performance we saw versus the Steelers in Week 9 become a norm for this team? Fields had his best game with 291 passing yards, 45 rushing yards, a touchdown and an interception. I’d like to see more scoring, but these are all things to build off of for 2022.