CHICAGO — From tiny Gooding, Idaho — population: 3,802 — Colston Loveland arrived at Halas Hall on Friday brimming with enthusiasm and optimism.

The headliner of the 2025 Chicago Bears draft class has an orientation process ahead as he adjusts to life near the big city and on the big stage. And during his introductory news conference in Lake Forest, Loveland offered a snapshot of his small-town roots.

His description of Gooding?

“Like the smallest town in Illinois. Think of that,” he said. “Just a bunch of land. Horses, cows, pivots. Windmills in the mountains.”

Loveland smiled.

“There ain’t much.”

It is indeed true that Loveland was an active participant in the local rodeo as a grade schooler. He has plenty of experience helping with the branding of calves on his aunt and uncle’s farm. And with the Bears counting on him to make a pretty good living with his hands, Loveland believes his time putting up wire fences back home helped strengthen those mitts.

“If you’ve ever played with barbed wire, it’s tough,” Loveland said. “It will rip you up for sure.”

Now comes the challenge of ripping up NFL defenses and becoming an impact player for the Bears, who are confident Loveland will be a friendly target for quarterback Caleb Williams and a valuable chess piece for coach Ben Johnson.

Loveland is excited to get that process started and hopeful that, as the top tight end selected in this year’s draft and just the fifth prospect at the position to be drafted in the top 10 over the last 20 years, he can use his combination of speed, toughness and athleticism to elevate the offense.

At his best, Loveland is a big-play threat, a polished route runner and, according to Bears general manager Ryan Poles, much better than advertised as a contributor to the running game.

“The blocking is way better than I think people realize,” Poles said.

Whether selecting Loveland at No. 10 was a best-case scenario for the Bears or a contingency plan that needed to be activated after the first 55 minutes of Thursday night’s proceedings didn’t unfold in ideal fashion doesn’t really matter much now. What matters is converting Johnson’s vision for Loveland into big-time production for the offense.

Draft analysts and talent evaluators have expressed plenty of optimism about Loveland’s potential and what his union with Johnson might mean. NFL Network’s Charles Davis called Loveland his favorite player in this draft class, likening him to former Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert in his ability to get open.

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt offered high praise for Loveland’s versatility, which will allow Johnson to deploy him in two-tight-end sets as a blocker or in-line target or to spread him out wide with belief he can win whatever matchups materialize.

“You can do whatever you need to do,” Poles said. “We can run the ball and play a physical brand of football. And if you match that with a more physical, bigger personnel group (on defense), you’ll have a mismatch on your hands as well.

“So it’s multiple. And it allows Ben to do what he does best — which is to have a physical brand of football but also be creative and do some things that are going to put teams in a pickle.”

Lauded for his ability to create separation, Loveland noted Friday that he has used Houston Texans standout wide receiver Nico Collins, a fellow Michigan alumnus, as a model for his route running.

“I can take a lot of tools out of his bag,” Loveland said. “Sam LaPorta too. I was also a big fan of watching him. They’re similar guys who kind of move the same as me. Evan Engram even. Just watching that tape and focusing on the details has definitely helped my route running.”

On the matter of Loveland’s learning curve and developmental plan, he might spend the rest of this spring — rookie camp, organized team activities, minicamp — as more of an eager observer than an on-field pupil.

In September, Loveland injured the AC joint in his right shoulder and played through the discomfort. He missed only three of Michigan’s games but, against his initial hopes, eventually needed surgery.

He underwent that procedure in late January, was still in a sling during the scouting combine and was given a target timetable of six months to be back to normal.

“It feels great,” he said Friday. “I’ve got full range of motion and everything. I can do really everything but like (lifting) super-heavy weight. So right now we’re in a good spot. I’m running. Can catch balls. Just no contact.”

Neither the Bears nor Loveland are expressing concern over his recovery, hopeful he can be cleared and ready to roll for most of training camp this summer. But that will be worth monitoring, particularly with Loveland needing to build chemistry with his new quarterback while enhancing his comfort in the offense.

When the time comes, the Bears will be counting on Loveland to provide a healthy return on their investment, hoping he quickly becomes a top-tier playmaker for a team on the climb.

With a wide smile Friday, Loveland said he believes his roots in Gooding and the values he learned there will aid his efforts.

“It’s about hard work and consistency,” he said. “Just doing the best you can do, better than everyone else around you. I feel like that correlates pretty well to the football field.”

____

©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.