Chicago Bears: 5 Breakout players to watch when training camp begins

3. Cole Kmet, Tight End

Tight end Cole Kmet had a pretty good rookie season. When you take a quick look at his stats you might not agree. He had 28 catches for 243 yards and two touchdowns. You need to remember that tight ends usually start off slow. His rookie numbers are nearly identical to Kyle Rudolph, one of the top tight ends in the NFL. Rudolph had 26 catches for 249 yards and three touchdowns.

Another thing to know is that for most of the season the Chicago Bears offense struggled mightily. Without the offensive line playing well, the quarterbacks just didn’t have the time to get the ball to their receivers. There were plenty of times that Kmet was open but the ball just didn’t get there or if it did it was an inaccurate throw.

Kmet did show flashes of how good he could be at times. He made some nice catches and once he caught the ball he had moments when he ran angry and bowled over would-be tacklers.

Kmet wants to build on his rookie season and show how much more he could do to help the offense. An improved quarterback situation will certainly help. He’ll have more accurate passes thrown his way and in a proper position so he could make runs after the catch. That means he should be able to run over more opponents.

Kmet’s play got better as the season progressed. He only had six catches for 79 yards in the first nine games of the season. Once he got more involved, he made an impact, making 22 catches for 164 yards over the final seven games.

The Bears will involve Kmet more in the offense in 2021. He’s ready to take a bigger load to help the offense. Future Hall of Fame tight end Jimmy Graham is still on the roster so he’ll continue to help Kmet in his development. Of course, if Kmet breaks out, the Bears might just part ways with Graham (also saving $7 million in cap space) and have Kmet take over as the starter.