The Chicago Bears surprised many by selecting Colston Loveland No. 10 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. They went with the Michigan tight end over Penn State’s Tyler Warren, whom draft analysts almost unanimously predicted to be the first of his position off the board.

The Bears had Loveland ranked slightly higher on their draft board, ultimately because they thought his separation ability, among other things, was a better fit for coach Ben Johnson’s offense and the team overall.

They kept their intentions quiet, enacting a radio silence to create the best possible chance that Loveland still would be there.

“As an organization, the Bears were unbelievably quiet leading up to the draft, I think, using that kind of intrigue and curiosity to their advantage,” NFL Network senior insider Ian Rapoport said on Tuesday’s episode of “The Chicago Football Show.” “If teams knew they were targeting Colston Loveland at No. 10, somebody might have tried to trade up to No. 9 for him. I don’t think that was out of the realm of possibility. So, they kept it really quiet, knowing that the mystery helped them.”

The Bears were so quiet that Rapoport didn’t have a good feel for who they would take at No. 10. Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles did so much work via trades and free agency that they filled most glaring holes on their depth chart. That left them to focus on value and fit over positional need.

While Warren as the top tight end was the general consensus, Rapoport started hearing buzz about Loveland just before the draft.

“He was really hot come draft day,” Rapoport said, “probably more hot than I ever even realized until that day.”

So hot, in fact, that it’s at least possible other teams were trying to trade up to get him. They weren’t able to leap into the top 10, however, which is why Loveland was available for Chicago’s selection.

“Probably in the 24 hours before the draft, is I started to hear about some teams — the Broncos and Texans, were a couple of them — trying to move up,” Rapoport said. “And I think everyone thought, all right, maybe they’re trying to move up for Matthew Golden, or maybe they’re trying to move up for Tetairoa McMillan. But as soon as the Bears took Colson Loveland, all those calls stopped, and so like, I’ll never find out who everyone was trying to move up for, but generally, when the calls stop, it means that’s the guy.”