CL #84

Colston Loveland

Tight End · Michigan

The highest tight end the Bears have drafted since Mike Ditka, who repaid that faith with a record-setting rookie year.

Colston Loveland grew up on a farm in Bliss, Idaho, before becoming an All-American tight end at Michigan and a national champion. Chicago made him the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft to give Caleb Williams a versatile weapon in the passing game, and he delivered from day one.

★ College Football Playoff national champion with Michigan (2023)

★ First-team All-Big Ten (2023), Second-Team All-America (2024)

★ Bears 1st-round pick, No. 10 overall in 2025

★ Highest tight end drafted by Chicago since Mike Ditka in 1961

★ Led all Bears rookies and the team in receptions in 2025

Path to the league

Loveland started 24 of 39 games over three seasons at Michigan, catching 117 passes for 1,466 yards and winning a national championship with the Wolverines in 2023. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2023 and Second-Team All-America recognition in 2024 after leading Michigan with 56 receptions, and the Bears selected him 10th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Career highlights

Loveland became the highest tight end the Bears have drafted since Hall of Famer Mike Ditka in 1961, and just the third tight end Chicago has taken in the first round in the common draft era. His versatility as a receiving threat was central to why Chicago's coaching staff targeted him as a Sam LaPorta-style weapon for the offense.

2025 season recap

Loveland caught 58 passes for 713 yards and six touchdowns over 16 games with 11 starts as a rookie, the fifth-most receiving yards among all rookie pass catchers in the league. He became the first Bears rookie to lead the team in receptions since Willie Gault in 1983 and posted an 85.3 PFF grade, the best mark of any first-round rookie in his class, before catching eight passes for 137 yards in Chicago's NFC Wild Card win over Green Bay.