5 pleasant surprises for Chicago Bears in the first half of 2023 season

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Carolina Panthers v Chicago Bears, Cole Kmet
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1. Cole Kmet is breaking out for the Chicago Bears 

When the Chicago Bears extended Cole Kmet, the thought was that at his age, his trajectory and the nature of the tight end position would lead to his best days being ahead. That projection was completely correct. 

Kmet is on pace for a career year. He is averaging 42 yards per game. His career-high before this was 36, and his career rate was 30 yards per game. He is providing much more than that. 

His career-high in touchdowns is seven, and he has five through ten games. He just needs three in the next seven weeks to hit that career high. 

Even better than all of that is seeing his success rate of 66.7%, which is much higher than his career rate of 56.3% and his old career-high which is 59.4%. 

He has always been a sound blocker, but now he is providing much more as a pass catcher. He has proven to be reliable and is consistently open. Cole Kmet is living up to his contract.