Bears TE Colston Loveland Is Drawing Travis Kelce Comparisons Ahead of Year Two
Colston Loveland didn’t look like a finished product in September. By November, he looked like a problem for opposing defenses. The Chicago Bears tight end is now the center of one of training camp’s most talked-about storylines, and the buzz isn’t limited to Halas Hall.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated named Loveland as the Bears player most likely to break out in 2026, and he didn’t stop there. Breer compared the tight end’s traits to those of future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce, with a caveat about size and strength.
“If there’s a breakthrough coming from an offensive player here, I’d circle tight end Colston Loveland’s name. His work ethic, toughness and intelligence have shone through this offseason, and he has flashed some Travis Kelce-type traits—Kelce is probably bigger, broader and stronger, while Loveland is smoother and faster—that have everyone excited about his second year.” — Albert Breer, Sports Illustrated
That’s a name comparison that gets thrown around loosely in July. Kelce has made 11 Pro Bowls, earned four All-Pro nods, and won three Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs. Loveland has played one NFL season. Breer’s point isn’t that Loveland has arrived at that level — it’s that the traits underneath the production are starting to look similar.
The Numbers Behind the Hype
Loveland’s rookie stat line reads well on its own: 58 catches, 713 yards, and six touchdowns across 16 games as Chicago’s 2025 first-round pick out of Michigan. The context matters more than the totals, though. He didn’t top three catches in a single game until Week 7, when he broke out with two touchdowns.
The tight end’s real surge came in the postseason. According to Athlon Sports, Loveland drew 25 targets across Chicago’s playoff run and caught 12 passes for 193 yards, including an eight-catch, 137-yard performance against the Green Bay Packers. Even in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams, he still pulled in four catches on 10 targets for 56 yards.
Caleb Williams Isn’t Hedging
Breer isn’t the only person inside the building setting a high bar. Quarterback Caleb Williams told reporters this month that Loveland has a chance to be the best at his position by season’s end, according to Yahoo Sports.
“He can become the best tight end in the league. I think he is. But stats and us going out there and proving it is what it is going to take, and to be able to do that we’ve got to put in work, we’ve got to build a connection, hang out inside and outside the building, have tough conversations or have open communication throughout the year and throughout camp.” — Caleb Williams, via Yahoo Sports
That’s not a throwaway line from a teammate being polite. Williams is the guy throwing him the ball, and he’s already ranking Loveland ahead of the field.
An Offense Built Around Him
Chicago’s decision to trade wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills this offseason reshaped the target distribution in Ben Johnson’s offense. Loveland now sits at the top of that pecking order, alongside a tight end room that also includes veteran Cole Kmet.
Reports out of camp back up the hype. A to Z Sports described Loveland beating linebackers in coverage through the first days of padded practices, including a rep against starter Devin Bush. Loveland entered the summer as the seventh-ranked tight end in the league according to a survey of coaches, executives, and scouts, per the same report.
None of this guarantees a leap. Camp hype has fooled plenty of prognosticators before, and Loveland still has to prove it against regular-season defenses that game-plan for him differently than they did as a rookie. But the early signs — from Breer’s Kelce comparison to Williams’s public confidence — suggest Chicago’s front office isn’t the only one convinced something is building at Halas Hall.
