For the 17th straight year, we’re bringing you who we believe will be the ten most important Chicago Bears for the upcoming season, and at number 9 is Chicago’s 12 Personnel.
As soon as the Chicago Bears drafted Colston Loveland, speculation started that they were looking to replace Cole Kmet with a more dynamic receiver at tight end. Kmet was coming off his fewest receptions (47) and yards (423) since his rookie season (28/243), and Ben Johnson’s primary tight end in Detroit was Sam LaPorta, whom Loveland was often compared to.
But Loveland (F) and Kmet (Y) play different positions, and Johnson isn’t running the Lions offense; he’s building his Bears playbook around the talent in the Windy City, and Kmet is part of that plan.
Two tight end sets (12 personnel/1 RB & 2 TEs) are a great way to find mismatches, and with Kmet being a better athlete than you probably think he is, and Loveland a better blocker than you probably think he is, the Bears will be able to move these two all around the offense.
Number 9 on my 2025 Most Important Bears series is Kmet and Loveland, aka, Chicago’s 12 personnel package. So I guess technically, Durham Smythe and a possible OL6 lined up as a tight end could be a part of their 12, but it’ll be Kmet and Loveland getting the bulk of the reps. I’ve combined players into one number on my list before, but that was when there was a question at a position like center or left tackle. This time, it’s because two tight end sets seem primed to be an important part of what the Bears want to do in 2025.
“I think the goal with it is to become the best 12 [personnel] tandem in the league and see where we can take it from there,” Kmet said last month after discussing what he was told by his head coach.
Although his overall numbers were down last year, Kmet remained productive. He led all tight ends with an 85.5 catch percentage and was second among tight ends with a 70.9 success rate*. Chicago’s offense was disjointed most of last season, and in eight games, Kmet had two or fewer targets. His 2025 numbers may not approach his 73 catches and 719 yards of 2023, but Kmet will be an effective receiver in Johnson’s offense.
*Per Pro Football Reference, a successful reception gains at least 40% of the yards required on 1st down, 60% of the yards required on 2nd down, and 100% on 3rd or 4th down. The denominator is the targets.
As a blocker, Kmet has never been a mauler, but he’s got a big frame and he’s willing to get in there and work. When he’s asked to do what he can do, he’s fine, and I have a feeling Ben Johnson’s run scheme will also benefit Kmet with more outside zone and by giving him better blocking angles. I expect him to have his best graded season as a blocker in 2025 with a more cohesive running game.
While Johnson is building his Bears’ offense around Caleb Williams and the talent in Chicago, I think he’ll bring a couple of core principles with him. There will be two things he does in Chicago that he did in Detroit. First, he’s going to run the ball. In 2024, Johnson’s Lions ran the ball about 47% of the time (eighth most), and in ‘23 and ‘22, he ran it about 43% of the time. Having two tight ends on the field will benefit the run game.
The second thing he’ll do is dial up plenty of play-action passes. In the last two years, with Ben Johnson as his playcaller, Lions quarterback Jared Goff led the league in play-action pass attempts, and in 2022, he ranked fourth. Play action is effective regardless of a team’s ability to run becuase it’s all about deception and execution.
When it comes to yards per route run on play-action passes over the last two years, Kmet was a top-five at his position, and now he has a play caller who knows how to marry the run and pass together and scheme up easy looks for his tight ends. Sneaking the tight end out for an easy catch is a cheat code off play action.
At Michigan, Loveland lined up in the slot nearly half his reps, but he also played plenty flexed off the line, as a traditional Y, and as an H-Back, so his versatility is a good complement to Kmet. Johnson will move Loveland around the offense to help his quarterback diagnose coverages.
The Lions used the third-most 12 personnel in 2024, and the upside from the Kmet/Loveland duo is higher than LaPorta and Brock Wright, who combined for 73 receptions and 826 yards a season ago.
“He’s got a crazy mind, so he’s got all types of stuff, all types of concepts,” Loveland said about his head coach via the Bearswire. “It’s definitely a step up, and it’s another level. I love it so far. I’m seeing tight ends run all different kind of routes, doing a bunch of different stuff in the run game. So, yeah, I’m loving it. I’m just ready to get out there and go to work.”
Not only does Ben Johnson use double tight ends quite a bit, but he’s good at it. The Lions ranked fourth in EPA last season when they were in 12. Expect to see tight ends shifting and motioning across for more power at the point of attack in the run game, and for them to line up in bunch sets for better blocking angles and to disguise pass patterns.
Loveland has the higher ceiling as a prospect, but right now, Kmet is the better football player, and with a playcaller who has an actual plan, Johnson will know how to get the best out of 12 personnel in 2025.
“Nowadays, you see a lot of teams looking to get two well-rounded tight ends that can do a lot, put defenses in a bind,” Loveland said earlier this year via WGN. “I’m super stoked to get in there and work with him [Kmet]. He’s been doing it for a while [and he’s] really good at it … 12-personnel, two tight ends, I can do everything and do a lot of things that mess with the defense.”
Check out the videos in the embed below for more of Johnson’s concepts and how he uses 12 personnel to set defenses up and find the best mismatch for his offense.