Bears News: Declan Doyle on drafting Loveland and Burden III

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - 8 hours ago

CHICAGO - New offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has a lot of weapons to coach.

Between quarterback Caleb Williams, receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, and the pieces Chicago added during the draft, including receiver Luther Burden III and tight end Colston Loveland, this offense has every reason to succeed.

“We’re really excited about the pieces we added. So, obviously, rookie minicamp, we’re exposed to a couple of them in Luther and Colston. But really, as we get into OTAs, that’s when we’re going to really explore what these guys can do,” Doyle said. “Where we see the direction of this offense going and starting to ask them to be a little outside their comfort zone, maybe things that they haven’t done before and really start to shape that and what that looks like.”

Loveland finished his collegiate career with 1,466 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. He won a National Championship under Jim Harbaugh with the Michigan Wolverines. Clearly, Chicago sees a lot in Loveland to draft him with a top 10 pick in the draft.

Doyle is fully confident in him and even started watching his tape months before the draft.

“He’s super competitive. I was a tight end’s coach before this. He was a guy that I actually, I started watching Colston near the end of the last season. I had a quality control coach that brought his tape and Tyler Warren’s tape and so, I got to watch Colston a little bit right at the end of last year and I was like, ‘Man, I would love to be able to coach this guy.’ It just so happens that I end up here and we end up acquiring him and we’re certainly very excited about the competitiveness, the person. He’s been out there. He’s been really inquisitive and he’s very involved just right from the (start),” Doyle said. “You see him finishing at a high rate and you’ll see him jaw a little bit at whoever he’s playing against. That’s the biggest thing that stands out, his ability to finish and his willingness to play through the whistle.” - On Loveland

Burden III was also a surprising pick given he was not expected to slide to the second round. His breakout season was in 2023 when he had 1,212 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. In 2024, while he had a drop in receiving yards, he was more involved in the running game with 115 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. At No. 39 overall, he was a steal.

However, he appeared to injure his midsection during the second day of rookie minicamp although he did return to minicamp on Sunday.

“He’s an explosive athlete. He’s really exciting. His tape was really impressive in college,” Doyle said. “He’s a playmaker and I think when the ball’s in his hands, he was one of the best guys that we evaluated in this process.”

Tight end and wide receiver may not have been Chicago’s top offensive priorities, Loveland and Burden III will be key additions to the offense this upcoming season. Who could also be a strong addition is Chicago’s seventh round selection, running back Kyle Monangai. Monangai rushed for over 1,200 yards each of his last two seasons.

With numbers like his, Monangai also seems like a steal. In addition, he prides himself on the fact that he has never lost a fumble.

“He is a very physical player. He’s very willing and then the best thing about him that translates is that he’s a (constant) pro. The last couple days we’ve been able to meet with these guys, he is front and center. He’s taking notes. He’s attentive,” Doyle said. “You’re asking a question of the group, he’s answering and I think he’s going to carry himself that way. I think guys that do handle themselves that way give themselves a great shot.”

With Monangai added through the draft, Chicago now has him, D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson in their running back room. Swift is not coming off a strong season as he only averaged 3.8 yards per game and had five games last year with 30 rushing yards or less. Johnson only had 150 rushing yards. However, the Bears frequently used him as a goal-line back, and he finished with six rushing yards on the season.

With these three, Doyle is confident in Chicago’s running back room.

“My short exposure to Swift has been really positive. He’s very attentive. He’s a pro. Obviously, you like what he does in the passing game and he’s going to be a home run hitter as a runner,” Doyle said. “Adding Kyle (Monangai) to that mix is going to be awesome and then obviously, we have the group that’s in there, Roschon and those guys. So, obviously, adding Kyle is a very positive thing. But, I think we’re going to find out more about this group as we go here.”