The Chicago Bears knew what they were doing when they drafted Colston Loveland 10th overall last April. Sure, history says every great quarterback needs a great wide receiver. However, recent history suggests that the best ones often have a great tight end. It started with Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates. Then it was Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. For the past several years, that torch was passed to Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Together, the two have won three Super Bowls and put up over 9,000 yards and 60 touchdowns. Could Loveland reach similar heights with Caleb Williams?
Former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert thinks so. He was rewatching the tape from Chicago's narrow loss in San Francisco and came away with a realization. The combination of Williams and Loveland is a nightmare for defenses to stop, and it's only getting better. Based on its current trajectory, those two could enter Mahomes-Kelce territory in the near future. If so, that would position the Bears as a team that will challenge for a championship at some point.
Caleb Williams and Colston Loveland could be better.
There is one important factor Benkert didn't touch on when making this comparison. Williams has the same arm talent Mahomes does. Loveland is the same caliber of pass-catcher and athlete as Kelce. You can make an easy case that Ben Johnson is on Andy Reid's level as a play-caller. However, there is another layer to this. When Mahomes and Kelce played together for the first time, the tight end was already 29 years old. He'd been in the league for five seasons. The clock was already ticking.
Caleb Williams is 24 years old. Colston Loveland is 21. That means if the two stay healthy, they could play together for a decade or longer. Since week nine, Loveland has 37 catches for 506 yards and five touchdowns. Average that out to a full season and you get 955 yards and nine touchdowns—every year. That is a Hall of Fame-level pace. Chicago hasn't seen something like that from a quarterback-tight end duo since Billy Wade and Mike Ditka. That only lasted four years, and it still won a championship. The Bears could be onto something special.
