Hub Arkush: Have the Bears fixed the tight end position?

Throughout the NFL last March, few free agent signings were analyzed and criticized more than the Bears' rush to give Jimmy Graham a two-year, $16 million contract, including $9 million guaranteed.

Is Graham the player he was five years ago in New Orleans? Clearly he is not.

Will his stats alone justify the $9 million at the end of the year? No, that seems unlikely.

But the Bears have actually been trying to fix tight end longer than they've been looking for quarterbacks, with Mike Ditka's run in the 1960s and Martellus Bennett's 2014 Pro Bowl season the only year since in which they've been better than average at the position.

It looks like they're finally starting to progress.

When talking about the Bears early season and more recent success in the run game, how many times have you heard Matt Nagy and other coaches talk about the blocking of tight ends?

Using Graham and blocking in the same sentence for a long time had been one of the great oxymorons in the NFL, but turn on the tape now.

In addition to his 44 receptions for 382 yards, 6 touchdowns and 28 first downs through 14 games, Graham has delivered a number of key blocks in recent weeks that have been difference makers.

Remember last season the Bears six tight ends combined produced 46 catches for 416 yards, 2 TDs and 22 first downs, so Graham is certain to outproduce all of them on his own, and in addition who knew his veteran presence and leadership could be so important.

More good news at the position is rookie second-round pick Cole Kmet may finally be that long-range answer, and Graham is serving as a true mentor.

Tight end coach Clancy Barone is certainly happy to have them both.

"Honestly he has a lot more gas in the tank than I think a lot of people recognized when we first got him," Barone said. "I think that everyone in this building is a big fan of Jimmy Graham's. Obviously he's had a very storybook career and so on, and that is not changing."

Graham seems equally pleased by the chance to work and play with Kmet saying Thursday, "It's cool. Obviously, to see the young kid and his love for the game, the way he plays, the way me and him play together. It's been extremely fun these last few weeks that me and him have been on the field more together."

Can Barone and Graham turn Kmet into that stud tight end the team has sought for so long? Barone thinks so.

"His (Kmet) play-speed is much faster than probably anyone gave him credit for," Barone said. "He's very, very heavy handed. When he locks those big mitts on you, it shocks you. And I've had veteran players tell me that.

"But yeah, Cole is going to be a very good tight end for the Bears for a very long time. I think he's doing fantastic, he's is probably ahead of schedule. I think the dual threat or the tight end tandem of he and Jimmy Graham is really pretty good."

Perhaps the exclamation point on Graham's value to the Bears came last week when it was announced his teammates had chosen him as their nominee this year for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award given annually to one NFL Player for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on it."

Until a couple of weeks ago I was convinced that in spite of his contributions Graham would be one-and-done as a Bear with serious salary cap issues looming next season and the chance to save $7 million against the cap by letting him go.

That may still be the case but as the offense has finally begun to emerge and become even more tight-end centric even that is uncertain.

At the end of the day forget the $9 million, folks, you don't have to pay it.

With where they're at now it seems Graham has given the Bears every bit as much as they've given him and there should be a few folks out there having a bit of crow for Christmas dinner.

• Twitter: @Hub_Arkush