Colston Loveland is Still Underrated After Monster Rookie Season
Despite a breakout campaign and clutch playoff heroics, Chicago's dynamic tight end remains overlooked. Discover why his elite production outshines bigger names on the NFL's latest rankings.
Video Transcript
Grant Bruker here for Bears on Roundtable.
Each passing day, it's looking like the Bears made the perfect decision drafting Colson Loveland 10th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
It took him a while to get going, but he really announced his arrival in that Week 9 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, where the Bears won 47-42 in an offensive shootout with veteran quarterback Joe Flacco.
Loveland had not one but two touchdowns in the game, including his first NFL touchdown on a five-yard pass from Caleb Williams in the end zone.
And then Loveland later caught the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter to secure the win for the Bears on a 58-yard score, where he broke multiple tackles.
Loveland is starting to gain recognition from around the league and made CBS Sports' list of the top 25 NFL players, all under the age of 25.
However, I did have a problem with how low Loveland's ranking was and with some of the people that were ranked ahead of him.
Loveland came in at number 25, and he was only the second tight end to make the list, as Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers came in at number 13.
I don't think that Bowers is that much better than Loveland, although I don't think it's that crazy that he's ranked ahead of him, as he has another year of NFL experience over Loveland.
But him being just 12 spots higher than Loveland doesn't make a lot of sense.
Brock Bowers did have a great rookie season, as he had over 1,100 receiving yards, but then he missed time last season due to injury, so I really don't think that he is 12 spots better than Loveland.
Then if you look at some of the players ranked just ahead of Loveland, you have Los Angeles Chargers tackle Joe Alt and Indianapolis Colts corner Sauce Gardner.
For Alt, like Bowers, he did have a good rookie year, but then he missed time due to injury, so I'm a little confused as to why he is ranked ahead of Loveland.
Then you have Gardner, who is already starting to develop some injury issues since he was traded to the Colts last season.
He missed time due to a calf injury, so it's a little puzzling that he is ranked ahead of Loveland as well.
Although Loveland had a great rookie season, it's clear that he is still going underestimated around the NFL, but luckily he has a chance to prove himself once again in 2026.
