CHICAGO — As Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly fielded calls from NFL general managers and coaches about Cole Kmet during the pre-draft evaluation process, he pointed to the growth potential of the new Bears tight end.
After all, until recently Kmet’s attention was divided among football, baseball and academics.
Ultimately with that development, Kelly thinks the player the Bears drafted at No. 43 in the second round Friday can have big success in the NFL.
“What they’re getting is an athletic tight end that is going to impact their offense immediately,” Kelly said on a video call with reporters Tuesday. “He’s smart. He’s got the capabilities to get better and better as he continues to develop. Having a lot of tight ends on your roster is one thing. Having Cole Kmet, well, that’s another.
“I’ve had Travis Kelce (at Cincinnati), Tyler Eifert, Kyle Rudolph, Durham Smythe. I’ve had a number of tight ends that are doing exceedingly well and have been All-Pros in the NFL. Cole Kmet will be in line with all of those guys.”
The Bears used their first draft pick on Kmet with the idea he can have a similar impact at a position they need to stabilize. Last year Bears tight ends combined for 46 catches, 416 yards and two touchdowns, and they’ve gotten next to nothing from 2017 second-round pick Adam Shaheen, who was supposed to be their Y tight end.
So when the Bears popped in Kmet’s tape after completing their 2019 exit interviews, the film of the athletic, physical tight end grabbed coach Matt Nagy’s attention.
“We were joking: ‘He’s like Robocop,’ ” Nagy said. “He can block, he can catch, he can do a lot of good things. You never know how things are going to go. But local kid (from St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Ill.), just a super person and a really special player, so we’re excited to see the growth in him.”
There’s room to grow because Kmet left Notre Dame a year early after only one season as a starter. He had 43 catches for 515 yards and six touchdowns in 11 games as a junior after making 15 catches for 162 yards as a sophomore. The left-handed reliever also tallied 10 saves as a freshman and sophomore for the Irish baseball team before an elbow injury cut short his second season.
Bears general manager Ryan Pace said Kmet is “just scratching the surface” of what he can become, and Kelly agreed.
“This is a full-time job now,” Kelly said. “He doesn’t have to worry about academics. He’ll be much better at route running, in-line blocking, the technique associated with combination blocks, working with the offensive line — all those areas, he’s going to really be able to elevate his technical game.
“He’s a smart football player. He’s an athletic football player. I think the technical things, you’ll see great improvement.”
From the descriptions by Kelly and Pace, Kmet has the demeanor and smarts to get there.
Kelly said Kmet earned respect early in his college career because of his work ethic, and he showed his drive in his first game of 2019.
Kmet broke his collarbone during practice in August and missed the first two games. He returned from the injury to face No. 3 Georgia on the road and put up a career-high nine catches for 108 yards and a touchdown in a 23-17 Irish loss.
“What I learned about him more than anything is that he’s fearless,” Kelly said. “He never really worried about the injury. There were a lot of people that were concerned about, how would he come back? Will he be hesitant? Will he be feeling his way around?
“A lot of people watched that Georgia game — he wasn’t feeling around anybody. He was knocking people around. His fearlessness and his toughness really showed out in that game.”
Pace thinks that mindset will help Kmet become a more complete player as he settles into his NFL career.
“You talk to everybody at Notre Dame, and they just raved about the person that he is and the approach that he has,” Pace said. “I think that’s all going lead to him ascending as we go forward.”
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