Why Kmet is excited for new role in Bears offense

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The Bears are widely projected to field one of the worst offenses in the NFL this year. It’s easy to understand why. They’re installing a new system, there are questions on the offensive line, Ryan Poles didn’t sign any marquee offensive free agents, nor did he spend a Top-50 pick on an offensive player in the draft.

But inside Halas Hall, there’s palpable excitement for what offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is cooking. It doesn’t sound like the typical, “It’s summer, we’re excited,” type sentiment either. Instead, it sounds like the players are eager to absorb as much of this new offense as they can so they can show it to the world. After Tuesday’s OTAs, we started getting a few hints as to how it’s beginning to take shape, too.

“I don't want to get too much in detail with it, but Justin's on the move a lot, and I think he does well with that,” said Cole Kmet. “That's been exciting to see and you see the types of throws he can make with his legs and on the run and off-schedule. Like I said, no pads right now, but you see that type of stuff and it gets exciting.”

“Man, (Justin Fields) throws a good deep ball,” said Matt Eberflus. “I’m excited about that. You can see it in the 7-on-7s and 11s-on-11s. We’re gonna take our shots downfield.”

This is Eberflus’ first summer program with Fields, so working with him is a new experience. But Kmet has a year with Fields under his belt, and he’s noticed a difference in the quarterback already.

“You just feel him in the huddle,” Kmet said. “He's not just repeating the play, he's telling you the play, and there's a difference in that. That gives me confidence as a player out in the field. He's talking to each guy.”

Personally, Kmet is looking forward to how his role will change in the new offense. When he first came into the league, Kmet was expected to largely play the “U” or “move” tight end position that was so important in Matt Nagy’s offense. Think Travis Kelce’s role in the Chiefs offense, or Trey Burton’s role when he was with Doug Pederson in Philadelphia. In his second year however, the Bears changed things up and Kmet was asked to run block more. He answered the call, and visibly improved in that area. Now, that ability to run block more effectively should help him moving forward.

“You kind of see how the tight end’s involved in the run scheme,” Kmet said of Getsy’s offense. “Off of that, the play-action movements and all those types of things can be really advantageous for tight ends. You see guys around the league in similar offenses, whether it was (Robert) Tonyan a couple years back with Green Bay. Or you look at what George (Kittle) has done in San Francisco. You even look at some things with Minnesota and how they’ve used tight ends the past five years or so. You see those things and you can see how tight ends can get really involved in this offense.”

That said, the Bears are still in the beginning stages of installing their new offense. They’ll see what works, and what doesn’t, and iterate. They’ll add and subtract, not just through the summer, but through the season as well.

“(Luke Getsy)’s thrown a lot at us this past month and a half, two months, but I think he just wants to see what everyone can do and I think that’s a good thing,” Kmet said. “We’ve been getting a lot of info thrown at us and all that type of stuff. But it’s been good and we’re just trying to see how much we can absorb at once.”

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