Colston Loveland

Loveland is considered a notch below Brock Bowers as a prospect despite being taken a few picks earlier -- 10th overall to the Bears. Fortunately, there's plenty of room between Bowers and bust, after the 2024 first-round pick set rookie TE records for catches and yards. Loveland caught 56 passes for 582 yards and five TDs in 10 games for Michigan last season, with his slight dip in receiving yards (compared to 649 in 2023) a product of playing five fewer games than he had the year before. His raw receiving stats may not stand out, but that's largely because he ran fewer than 300 routes in each of his three seasons in Michigan's run-first offense. The per-route production was far more impressive, especially when accounting for age, with Loveland having put up 16-235-2 receiving as an 18-year-old freshman and nowadays set to play a full NFL season before turning 22. At 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, Loveland is considered a competent blocker in addition to being an excellent pass catcher, which should help him get on the field soon enough, although there are serious Year 1 workload concerns on a team that returns incumbent starting tight end Cole Kmet. Loveland underwent shoulder surgery in January on an injury that he played through last season, but that procedure isn't expected to impact his Week 1 availability. Read Past Outlooks