A high bar has been set the last two years with Sam LaPorta making a run at Mike Ditka’s record for receiving yards by a rookie tight end in 2023 and Brock Bowers eclipsing it last season with the Las Vegas Raiders.

LaPorta blossomed instantly as a major cog in the Detroit Lions passing game under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, catching 86 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns. That’s just one reason why it’s easy to wonder what is in store for first-round pick Colston Loveland, who hit the practice field for the first time Friday at the Chicago Bears rookie minicamp.

LaPorta, a Lions second-round pick, fell short of Ditka’s record of 1,076 yards, but Bowers, chosen 13th in 2024, topped the mark with 1,194 yards in 17 games on 112 receptions (Ditka’s mark came in a 14-game season in 1961).

Loveland was in the background and running some routes on air after drills completed as he hasn’t been cleared yet. He had surgery to repair the AC joint in his right shoulder in January and is progressing well with the goal of being full go before training camp. Johnson talked about finding ways to try to enhance Loveland’s learning process through walk-throughs.

That puts an emphasis on mental reps for Loveland as he’s introduced to the scheme this weekend. Having been recruited to Michigan by Jim Harbaugh and playing in a pro-style offense in college should make the transition a little easier than it could be, but Loveland is only at the beginning of a long process.“A lot of the terminology and everything kind of flows right into it,” Loveland said. “We use the same stuff. It has helped me for sure. We’ve got a long way to go though. It’s a new offense and I’m just excited to get in it and get right.”

Some say tight end is the second-most difficult position for rookies after, of course, quarterback because there’s so much going on for them in both the pass and run games. In the last 10 years, 10 rookie tight ends have reached 40 receptions in their rookie season.

Retired NFL assistant Pete Hoener, who coached the Bears offensive line in 2004 but spent the majority of his career in the pros working with tight ends, was in agreement when talking about the process of getting young players at the position to contribute.

“There’s no doubt about that particularly if a tight end wants to reach his potential,” said Hoener, a Peoria native. “He needs to have the mindset of being an all-around player. You’re not a specialist. You’re not a receiver. We’ve all seen how those guys have done. You’re not just a blocker. We know how that goes. You have to be a complete tight end, and that’s where being involved in all the pass protections, run blocking, formations, motions, shifts, run game rules, routes, there’s so much that they really have to buy in and say, ‘I’m going to take charge of my career right here.’ That means being a complete tight end.

“How much time are they willing to put in when they’re not in the building? The best ones I ever had, the ones that learned the fastest and the most, you’d walk into their condo or their apartment and there would be boards up all over the place. If you want to reach your potential, you’ve got to go all in, baby.”

A longtime personnel man who closely examined this year’s tight end class said he could understand why the Bears went with Loveland ahead of Penn State’s Tyler Warren if they’re looking for the more fluid and explosive route runner. He called Loveland a superior blocker to LaPorta and said he’s a more explosive athlete as well.

Even with lofty expectations for the Michigan product — the third tight end the Bears drafted in the first round after Ditka and Greg Olsen (2007) — Loveland might have a hard time pushing for the numbers LaPorta and Bowers amassed. But there’s no reason for the organization to even think about what the ceiling could be.

The addition of Loveland provides Johnson with all sorts of possibilities from personnel and play-calling standpoints, and senior director of player personnel Jeff King talked on the night of the draft about the mismatches the offense potentially can create with the rookie. Provided Loveland develops in a timely fashion, the Bears will have one of the better 1-2 combinations in the NFL with veteran Cole Kmet, who remains a big part of the plan.

With wide receivers DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and rookie Luther Burden III and a backfield that needs to be sorted out, Johnson has many ways to challenge a defense in seek of advantageous matchups.

What made Johnson such a hot commodity the last couple of years as a head coaching candidate was his ability to work with what he had. It’s impossible to find a boundary to his creativity with formations and personnel.

That’s one way to explain the big numbers LaPorta had as a rookie. The Lions had wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown as a No. 1 target for quarterback Jared Goff, but wide receiver Jameson Williams had a hamstring injury and an NFL suspension for gambling, so he was limited during training camp and the regular season. Josh Reynolds was the next-best wide receiver, and outside of a previous relationship with Goff as members of the Los Angeles Rams, he didn’t bring a ton to the table. So, LaPorta got volume out of necessity and delivered.

Bowers was in a somewhat similar situation last season, especially after the Raiders traded wide receiver Davante Adams to the New York Jets. The Raiders passing game went through wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and Bowers. That was about it.

Caleb Williams figures to have many more weapons and options and he will almost certainly be throwing to tight ends — Loveland and Kmet — more often. The Bears targeted tight ends 70 times last season, 31st in the league ahead of only the New York Giants (64). By comparison, the Bowers-led Raiders were first at 198. The Lions ranked 23rd (100) as LaPorta caught 60 passes for 726 yards and seven touchdowns, including the score on the “Stumble Bum” play at Soldier Field.

Patience is going to be required. The Bears want to be smart with Loveland to avoid any setbacks. He’s going to have to push himself mentally to keep pace without the benefit of full-speed reps throughout offseason. But he’s running and lifting weights and will get the best reps when the pads are on during training camp.

“Just getting back into playing football,” Loveland said. “It’s been awhile. So yeah, I’m just excited to be more hands-on and start getting out there. I’m itching to go out there for sure.”

Ditka and Martellus Bennett are the only tight ends in franchise history to be selected to the Pro Bowl. Olsen had that honor three times after he was traded to the Carolina Panthers, with whom Hoener was working at the time.

Told Bears fans are still disgusted by how that deal at the start of the 2011 training camp went down — the Bears got a third-round pick in return — Hoener chuckled.

“I would be too,” he said.

The beauty of the situation is the Bears have a skill-position player they know Johnson coveted as a perfect fit for his scheme. There’s no wondering about that. He has to develop and complete rehab work, but Loveland can be an instant hit even if the offense doesn’t have to lean on him for the kind of production Bowers and LaPorta had as rookies.