Remember when the Bears spent a first-round pick on a tight end and half the league shrugged? Yeah, that looks pretty dumb now.
Colston Loveland didn’t just have a good rookie season. He had the kind of debut that makes you wonder if Chicago finally found its Travis Kelce — except Loveland might already be ahead of the actual Travis Kelce on at least one important list.
Sports Illustrated dropped its tight end rankings ahead of the 2026 season, and Loveland landed at No. 6. That puts him three spots ahead of the three-time Super Bowl winner and future Hall of Famer. Kelce, for context, is No. 9.
This isn’t some off-season hype machine with no basis. Karl Rasmussen from SI pointed to how Loveland finished his rookie year. The first seven games were shaky. He averaged under 20 yards per game and didn’t score a single touchdown. But something flipped after that.
Over his final 10 games, Loveland averaged nearly 60 yards per contest and hauled in six touchdowns. That stretch helped the Bears shock everyone by winning the NFC North in Ben Johnson’s first season as head coach.
Loveland isn’t the only Bear getting top-10 love from SI. Offensive linemen Darnell Wright and Joe Thuney also cracked their position group’s top 10. But the tight end ranking carries extra weight because it signals something bigger for Chicago’s offense.
Johnson’s system has always relied on an explosive tight end to create mismatches. Loveland gives him that, and the early returns suggest he could be a consistent top-five guy before long. The Bears haven’t won back-to-back division titles since 2006, which was also the last time they went to the Super Bowl. Loveland could be the piece that changes that.
Kelce isn’t done yet, obviously. He’s still Travis Kelce. But the gap is narrowing faster than most people expected. For a Bears team that’s been searching for offensive identity for years, that’s not a bad problem to have.
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