Colston Loveland’s quiet Week 1 production may seem concerning but a closer look reveals a much different story for the Bears
Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland was held without a single catch during the team’s offensive explosion against the Carolina Panthers, and here’s why you shouldn’t worry about this kind of showing moving forward.
The Chicago Bears had an offensive explosion in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers. Ben Johnson’s unit scored 59 points, had over 550 yards of offense, and scored eight touchdowns. All while tight end Colston Loveland had zero receptions.
Understandably, those in the fantasy community were concerned coming out of Sunday’s game seeing a goose egg on the stat sheet from their TE1. However, a closer look at his involvement on Sunday paints a more optimistic picture moving forward.
Colston Loveland was still heavily involved in Sunday’s game for the Chicago Bears
First off, Loveland played 65 offensive snaps during Sunday’s game including 36 snaps on passing plays. He ran a total of 32 routes throughout the game. All of which led Chicago’s pass catchers in Week 1. Usage-wise, there should be no concern.
Now, looking at the production, it does look worrisome but here’s where fantasy owners need to learn a thing or two about this offense. Ben Johnson’s offense is going to be very matchup dependent when it comes to who the primary players are each week.
“Those things, they go in cycles,” Johnson said last season. “Particularly with the perimeter players, it’s hard for me to predict when a guy’s going to have a big game or not out there. You just can’t foresee what coverage you’re going to get every single time. You look to put them in good positions.”
You’re going to have games that look like this for any one of the team’s pass catchers. Week 1 was just Loveland’s game to not be featured as the primary guy, which was evident watching back all 32 routes and seeing who Caleb Williams looked to first as his primary read.
At the same time, there were still a few plays in which Loveland was the primary read. The first obvious one was a crossing route on first-and-10 that Williams threw well behind him that could have been a big chunk play with plenty of YAC opportunity. Another was a one-on-one matchup against a cornerback in the redzone that could have been a touchdown but the throw was just out of reach.
“There was a few passes that I left out there,” Williams said after the game. “There was one that should have been a touchdown to Colston that I missed. Threw it a little bit too far in front of him. Just small things like that. You don’t get those opportunities too often.”
Looking more at Loveland’s usage, he was deployed all over the field. He had 36 snaps inline, 16 snaps in the slot, 11 out-wide, and 2 in the backfield. A lot of those out-wide snaps also featured him isolated to that side on a cornerback.
Ultimately, Loveland’s quiet day came down to game planning. He wasn’t a featured player this week in the offensive game plan as a primary read and the Panthers were doing everything they could coverage-wise to make sure Loveland wouldn’t beat them. Then it just came down to bad execution on the two plays that were designed for Loveland to make an impact.
For Bears fans, this should be exciting. Your offense still did that without using your top weapon, at all. For fantasy football managers, ride the wave because Loveland’s time will come when he can really shine.
