Windy City Gridiron
In the Chicago Bears’ 26 to 14 win over the New Orleans Saints, rookie tight end Colston Loveland had a chance to show off the underappreciated reason the Bears made him the tenth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Loveland (6’6″, 241) was a part of why the Bears racked up 222 rushing yards, and this pancake block on Saints’ defensive end Carl Granderson (6’5″, 261) was a thing of beauty and is making the rounds on social media. Loveland is the end man on the line of scrimmage here. He squared up with Granderson and muscled him to the ground as Roschon Johnson scampered for 11 yards.
His blocking has been solid all season, and I’m not surprised in the least. After all, he was recruited by Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines, and Harbaugh’s teams always ask the tight ends to block.
There was another block I wanted to highlight that happened later in the game, because this one was as impressive, but for different reasons. Loveland is the Y tight end on the left side of the line. On the snap, he pulls right to lead the way for D’Andre Swift, but before his kick-out block, he gets just enough of Granderson with his left arm to ensure Swift can get around the end.
While we’re talking about Loveland, I have to bring this bogus play up. What did he do? He curled up at five yards, made himself available as a receiver by showing his numbers to his quarterback, and was called for offensive pass interference when the defender ran into him.
We’ve yet to get a big receiving game from Loveland, as his three catches today were a season high, but that aspect of his game will shine soon enough. In the meantime, the Bears have won four in a row, and Loveland is settling into the offense nicely as a rookie.
