Wanting to get a piece of the Chicago Bears offense is a fair thought to bring into your fantasy football drafts this summer. They have a promising quarterback in Caleb Williams who can potentially raise the tide of all involved ships.
The question, of course, is just how involved Cole Kmet will be after this franchise spent the 10th overall pick in April on Michigan’s Colston Loveland.
Should You Draft Cole Kmet in Fantasy?
If you’re hoping to squeeze production out of Kmet at any point this season, you’re banking on the creativity and ingenuity of Ben Johnson. Sure, he’s entering his first season as a head coach, but he’s been plugged into the offensive side of the ball at the professional level since 2012, and last year’s Lions was his brainchild (our top-ranked offense for the season and third-best single-season performance since 2019).
It could happen.
The Bears ARE NOT trading Cole Kmet.
Why?
– Trading Kmet doesn’t help the Bears win in 2025
– Ben Johnson ran the 3rd most 12-personnel in the NFL last season (32.2% of snaps)
– Colston Loveland missed all of OTA’s and has yet to be fully cleared from a shoulder surgery.… pic.twitter.com/88zhloEa9J
— Harrison Graham (@HGrahamNFL) July 3, 2025
But I think you’re investing in an awfully thin profile at best. This is more of a wait-and-see situation where, if you like the talent of Kmet, you are the first to pounce on the waiver wire at signs of life, but there’s no need to leave your draft with him rostered.
MORE: Free Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
For his career, Kmet has scored just 19 times in 84 games and has one year with 615+ receiving yards. He’s yet to miss a game in his career. That level of availability holds value when we get into the middle of the season (bye weeks, injuries, etc.), but in this era of highly involved tight ends, where does Kmet realistically fit in?
In 2024, he caught 85.5% of his passes and played alongside what might be the most conservative version of Caleb Williams we’ve seen. He finished 25th at the position in per-game PPR scoring.
There’s a non-zero chance that Kmet carves out a niche role that makes him streamable as the Bears attempt to keep up with the high-flying teams they share a division with, so don’t completely write him off. That said, there’s no reason to burn a roster spot on a player who projects as Dawson Knox in a less proven offensive environment.
Building a fantasy winner isn’t always about rostering the best players. It’s about building the best roster. That may sound like a distinction without a difference.
It’s not.
The depth of your roster needs has a clear path to helping your team. Kmet is not going to be your TE1 leaving the draft, and that means that if you were to add him to the back end of your roster, you’d not just be betting on him to overachieve expectations; you’d also need your TE1 to fail.
That’s poor roster management and setting yourself up for limited potential before the season even kicks off.
Mason LeBeau‘s Cole Kmet Fantasy Projection
Unfortunately, it seems like everyone’s favorite fill-in, bye-week TE has been phased out. Hopefully, dynasty managers sold during the hype of the offseason when the Bears hired Ben Johnson, because when they took Colston Loveland in the first round of the draft, it nuked Kmet’s value.
Which is a shame, because he had put up reasonable numbers on some bad offenses. I think much of the fantasy world was eager to see what Kmet could do in Johnson’s offense and year two of QB Caleb Williams. We won’t actually know how much of a role he’ll have, as it’s entirely possible that he and Loveland could coexist in this offense.Â
However, the Bears’ passing game would have to drastically improve to be able to support Kmet somewhat, all while getting WR DJ Moore, TE Colston Loveland, WR Rome Odunze, and WR Luther Burden involved. There’s a ton of mouths to feed, and while that may work well for Williams, it probably won’t work for fantasy managers.Â
Keep an eye out for Kmet around the trade deadline. If he has a few good games to start the season, he could find himself on a new team with a ton of work by midseason.Â
