So (*nervously laughing*) I guess tight end was the plan all along?
After a good bit of Ashton Jeanty speculation, a little more Kelvin Banks Jr. rumors, and that one three-hour stretch when the Bears were going to trade up for Abdul Carter, the Bears ended up doing what everyone originally expected them too (more or less): they stuck around at 10 and landed Michigan tight end Colston Loveland.
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Notably enough, the Bears passed on the opportunity to take Penn State's Tyler Warren, who was still on the board for them at 10. Warren's widely considered the best tight end in this year's draft, although he profiles less as a traditional tight end than Loveland, who played way more in-line at Michigan than Warren did at Penn State.
Colston Loveland is very much a Ben Johnson-y pick for the Bears
For the Bears, it's a slightly-underwhelming but predictable first pick for the Ben Johnson era. Johnson was forged in the fires of Dan Campbell, who values tough line play above basically everythign else. Loveland obviously wasn't taken 10th overall just to block, but he feels way more like a pick for a team that's really emphasizing a new identity on the line.
And while Loveland isn't quite the passing attack threat that Warren is, he's certainly no slump there. In three years at Michigan, he he had 117 catches, 1466 yards, and 11 touchdowns in 39 games. It'll be interesting to see what Johnson and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle do to utilize Loveland with Cole Kmet, who's also primarily an in-line tight end with the ability to play some in the open field.
That'll be all for the Bears on Thursday night (or is it?!), though they're back at it pretty quickly during Friday night's: they have both the 39th and 41st pick in the second round, and then one more Top-100 pick later in the third (72).