Less than a week before the regular season begins, fantasy football owners are looking for under-the-radar guys to draft to help them win their leagues. The Chicago Bears would like to present a sensible option.
ESPN NFL analyst Matt Bowen ranked his top fantasy rookies to select in the draft. Bowen had Bears first-round pick tight end Colston Loveland on the list, with his new head coach a big reason for his pending success.
"At 6-foot-6 and 248 pounds, Loveland uses his foot quickness and route-running skills to work every part of the field, and he presents issues for opposing defenses out of a slot alignment. Look for coach Ben Johnson to scheme matchups for Loveland, who fits as a fringe fantasy TE1 in Chicago's upgraded offense."
Johnson will elevate Loveland's game to the next level
Loveland was brought in to give quarterback Caleb Williams another option in the passing game. Another good part of Loveland's game is his ability to block, even if it isn't as elite as other tight ends in the league.
Johnson loves to run two tight end sets and did it time and time again while he was the offensive coordinator for the Lions. He wanted his former quarterback, Jared Goff, to get the ball out of his hands and go with the safer option of hitting the tight end on a pass.
Look at the work Johnson did with developing Sam LaPorta after the Lions picked him in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. LaPorta has already become one of the top five tight ends in the NFL with 1,615 yards and 17 touchdowns in two seasons under Johnson as offensive coordinator.
Those numbers from LaPorta made him a dream in fantasy football as he was the number one tight end in 2023 in fantasy points with 153. He was also ranked sixth last year at the position with 115 points.
That is the kind of results Bears fans are expecting from Loveland in 2025. It's also the results fantasy owners want to see out of the young tight end out of Michigan.
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Some might be scared off with Cole Kmet also in Chicago at tight end, but the potential of what Loveland could be is too good to pass on.