Below is the reaction to the Chicago Bears taking Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet in the second round with the No. 43 overall pick, making him the first tight end picked in the 2020 NFL Draft.
ESPN Analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
“He really came on this year, it was his first year as a starter, he was a backup to Alizé Mack last year, had an injury with a broken collarbone in practice, missed three games and he comes back against Georgia and set a record for Notre Dame tight ends — nine catches, 108 yards, one touchdown; it was the most for an Irish tight end since 1977.
“He went on to have some really good games — against USC, six catches; BC, seven receptions; Stanford, five catches. He’s a big kid, almost 6-6, 260 pounds, he’s an inviting target, really good hands. You want to see a few less body catches, a little bit more hands with it because he does have good hands, good body control, he’ll block but he’s a work in progress there.
“He was, clearly, in my opinion, slightly ahead of Adam Trautman of Dayton as the best tight end in this draft, and he’ll be a weapon for whether it’s Nick Foles or Mitchell Trubisky.”
Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly (via Twitter)
“The [Chicago Bears] are getting a powerful tight end in [Cole Kmet]. We can add Cole to the list of every starting TE at Notre Dame drafted since 2003. Congratulations, Cole!”
Cole Kmet
“Grew up a big Bears fan and I’m super excited to get going. For me as a tight end, I loved when they had Greg Olsen. And a staple who you always watched was Brian Urlacher.
“We were kind of sweating it out, not knowing where I was going to be, and then the phone call comes in and we were so happy. Amazing. You don’t know where you’re going to go or end up. You know there are certain teams are interested, and when they pass on you, you’re not really sure when you're going to go next.
“I knew the Bears were interested in me and with the pick coming up, I was getting anxious. When I saw the phone number pop up and coach Nagy’s face on the other end of it, I was so happy.”
Lance Zierlein, NFL.com
“He’s still developing and could be a slow starter headed into the league, but he has the talent to eventually become a solid starter as a pass-catching in-line tight end with the ability to mismatch from the slot with his size.”
Social Media Reaction
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