New Bears TE Sam Roush is being boxed in early with a label that may be masking the real upside he brings to Chicago’s offense
The Chicago Bears made a bold move in the third-round of the 2026 NFL Draft when the team selected Stanford tight end Sam Roush, and fans might already be wrong to box him in at a specific offensive role.
The Chicago Bears were heavily criticized during the 2026 NFL Draft when the team selected Stanford tight end Sam Roush 69th overall in the third-round despite already having two established tight ends in Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland.
In reality, this move was made to mirror other modern offenses looking to implement more multi-TE sets. The Bears already got ahead of that curve last season by using Durham Smythe a healthy amount as the third tight end. Selected Roush gave the Bears an option to take over that role as a blocking tight end.
“Blocking’s a huge part of my identity as a player,” Roush said. “That’s something that I take immense pride in, something that I’ve worked on every day in college. That’s obviously where a lot of my value is in the league. Chicago’s a place that’s going to value that. I’m going to do everything that I can to play my role on this team. All I want to do is help the team be successful and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
However, Roush brings even more upside to Chicago’s offense compared to what Smythe offered the team in 2025 and fans are rushing too quickly to box Roush into that role.
Chicago Bears TE Sam Roush brings hidden upside to the offense beyond being just a blocker
While blocking will be Roush’s primary role in this offense out of the gate, he has exciting traits to continue developing as a pass catcher. Roush is still raw at the position given his rugby background. That physicality is what led him toward harnessing his skills as a blocker but what he can do as a pass catcher and with the ball in his hands is a ball of clay.
“The biggest thing for him was growing how to use technique,” Stanford tight end coach Nate Byham told CHGO Sports. “When he came in, he was a physical specimen… His sophomore year was my first year and we really started to utilize him in the blocking world. And then, when he got the ball in his hands, he was just so hard to bring down and we really leaned on, making sure that we got it to his hands early and often because he could punish people.”
Watching Roush’s tape, you can clearly see the rugby background. He bounces off defenders when he has the ball in his hands and is a tough player to bring down. As a route runner, Roush has insane acceleration off the line of scrimmage that catches defenders by surprise.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic noted Stanford spammed out routes with Roush but he also had some nice plays where he leaked out off the LOS across the middle, giving his quarterback a big open target.
One of the biggest knocks of his game, however, is the number of drops he had throughout his college career (seven in 2025 alone). That’s a big area the Bears will have to work on early with him but, his TEs coach downplayed that concern.
“I think he has above solid hands,” Byham added. “He’s not Colston Loveland hands yet – he’s working there – but that being said, he had a lot of balls thrown to him at his feet, at his knees, or where our quarterback was running for his life at times… He was put in some tough situations at times.”
It won’t be immediate, but Roush has potential to grow even more as a pass catcher and being a threat after the catch with the physicality he plays with. In 13 personnel, Bears head coach Ben Johnson can scheme up some run-fakes that can get Roush off the LOS and get him out there on short routes to take the defense by surprise.
We shouldn’t just pigeon hole this guy in as solely a blocking tight end like Smythe was. Roush has the potential to be much more than that with proper development.