Cole Kmet
Cole Kmet (born March 10, 1999) is an American football tight end for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame, and was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
| No. 85 – Chicago Bears | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | March 10, 1999 Lake Barrington, Illinois | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 262 lb (119 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | St. Viator (Arlington Heights, Illinois) | ||||||||
| College: | Notre Dame | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2020 / Round: 2 / Pick: 43 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||
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Early years
Kmet attended St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He played baseball and football in high school.[1] As a senior in football, he had 48 receptions for 773 yards and four touchdowns. Kmet played in the 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.[2][3] He committed to the University of Notre Dame to play college football.[4]
College career
Football
As a true freshman at Notre Dame in 2017, Kmet played in all 13 games and had two receptions for 14 yards. As a sophomore in 2018, he played in 11 games and had 15 receptions for 162 yards. Kmet took over as the starting tight end his junior year in 2019.[5] He missed the first three games of the season due to a broken collarbone.[6] In November, he announced that he would return to Notre Dame for his senior season rather than enter the 2020 NFL Draft.[7][8]
On January 2, 2020, Kmet announced he would forgo his senior season at Notre Dame and would enter the 2020 NFL Draft.[9]
Baseball
Kmet also played baseball at Notre Dame.[10] As a freshman in 2018, Kmet appeared in 26 games as a relief pitcher and made one start. He finished the season 2–5 with a 5.05 earned run average (ERA), 39 strikeouts and a team-leading eight saves.[11] As a sophomore in 2019, Kmet appeared in eight games with one start, before suffering an arm injury.[12] He finished the season 0–2 with a 2.89 ERA and 27 strikeouts.
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 5 3⁄4 in (1.97 m) |
262 lb (119 kg) |
33 in (0.84 m) |
10 1⁄2 in (0.27 m) | 4.70 s | 4.41 s | 7.44 s | 37.0 in (0.94 m) | 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) | ||||
| All values from NFL Combine[13] | ||||||||||||
Considered a top tight end prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft, CBS Sports ranked him as the best tight end in the draft, while Pro Football Focus ranked him as the second-best. He was projected as a second-round pick.[14][15] The Chicago Bears selected him in the second round with 43rd overall pick, which was previously acquired from the Las Vegas Raiders along with Khalil Mack as part of the trade that sent two first-round picks (Josh Jacobs and Damon Arnette) to the Raiders.[16] He signed a four-year rookie contract with the team on July 21.[17]
Kmet began his rookie season primarily as a blocker.[18] In Week 2 against the New York Giants, he recorded his first NFL reception with a 12-yard catch,[19] followed by his first touchdown four games later against the Carolina Panthers on a nine-yard score in the 23–16 victory.[20]
NFL Statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 2020 | CHI | 16 | 9 | 28 | 243 | 8.7 | 38 | 2 |
| Total | 16 | 9 | 28 | 243 | 8.7 | 38 | 2 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 2020 | CHI | 1 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 9 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 9 | 0 | |
Personal life
Kmet's father Frank Kmet and uncle Jeff Zgonina have played in the NFL.[21]
References
- Hansen, Eric. "Future Notre Dame TE Cole Kmet has double vision on football, baseball". Notre Dame Insider.
- "Cole Kmet relishes being first U.S. Army All-American from his school". October 5, 2016.
- report, Daily Herald (October 5, 2016). "U.S. Army All-American Bowl appearance suits St. Viator's Kmet". Football Focus.
- Skrbina, Paul. "St. Viator junior tight end commits to Notre Dame". chicagotribune.com.
- "Product of a football family, a heartfelt talk brought Notre Dame's Cole Kmet back to the sport". Indianapolis Star.
- James, Tyler (September 26, 2019). "Healthy TE Cole Kmet finally gets chance to live up to hype at Notre Dame". Notre Dame Insider. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- "Notre Dame Football: Cole Kmet Says He's Staying". November 13, 2019.
- "Cole Kmet, Liam Eichenberg plan to return in 2020 | Irish Insights | Journal Gazette". journalgazette.net.
- https://www.si.com/college/notredame/football/notre-dame-football-cole-kmet-to-the-nfl
- Litman, Laken. "Jeff Samardzija's advice to Cole Kmet, the next great dual-sport athlete at Notre Dame". Indianapolis Star.
- Pope, LaMond. "Cole Kmet's full focus is back on football after stint with Notre Dame baseball team". chicagotribune.com.
- Karels, Carter. "Two-sport athlete Cole Kmet out indefinitely for Notre Dame baseball team". Notre Dame Insider.
- "Cole Kmet Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- "2020 NFL Draft Prospect Rankings: Tight ends". CBSSports.com.
- Renner, Michael (April 12, 2020). "2020 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Tight Ends | College Football and NFL Draft". PFF. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- Seligman, Andrew (April 25, 2020). "Bears open draft by taking TE Cole Kmet, CB Jaylon Johnson". Yahoo! Sports. AP. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- Mayer, Larry (July 21, 2020). "Bears sign all seven of their 2020 draft picks". Chicago Bears. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- Chamberlain, Gene (October 16, 2020). "Cole Kmet's Progress Measured by More than Catches". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- "Kmet hauls in first career catch". Chicago Bears. September 20, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- Finley, Patrick (October 18, 2020). "Bears TE Cole Kmet catches first career TD". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- Narang, Bob (January 11, 2020). "St. Viator grad Cole Kmet makes difficult decision to declare for NFL draft". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 23, 2020.