These stats prove Bears’ Colston Loveland had fantastic rookie season

When evaluating football players, I always refer back to advice I received from a long-time NFL scout: trust your eyes. It’s why Chicago Bears rookie tight end Colston Loveland is an easy projection after his first year in the NFL.

Simply put, the guy is a stud. His skill set is reminiscent of the many great tight ends who preceded him in the league and those who are dominating right now. Tom Brady compared him to Rob Gronkowski. He’s been called a young Travis Kelce.

Bears GM Ryan Poles must be feeling pretty good about last year’s 10th overall pick.

However, there are those in football media who are more numbers-based; they trust numbers more than their eyes.

To each their own.

But even those guys would agree that Loveland is special.

Check out how dominant he has been over the final 10 games of the 2025 NFL regular season:

That’s a whole lot of first-place rankings.

Colston Loveland had a fantastic rookie year by any measure

Colston Loveland finished his rookie year with 58 catches for 713 yards and six touchdowns and became the first Chicago Bears rookie to lead the team in receiving since Willie Gault.

He was the first Bears’ rookie tight end to lead the team in receiving since Mike Ditka.

Numbers guys should love that, too.

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“The 10th overall pick from Michigan became a prominent part of the Bears’ passing attack in his first season, ranking in the top 15 at the position in targets (81), catches (58), and receiving yards (713),” Pro Football Focus’ Lauren Gray wrote. “The 21-year-old gained 35 first downs (10th most) and caught six touchdown passes while recording 13 explosive gains of 15-plus yards. Loveland also secured nine of 18 contested targets on his way to a fourth-ranked 83.3 PFF receiving grade.”

With Rome Odunze expected back for the Bears’ playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, Loveland should have even more room to operate in the short and intermediate game.

Call it a hunch, but I think Chicago Bears fans should get used to Loveland and the 10-catch performance he had against the Detroit Lions in the season finale.

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