The Chicago Bears’ rookie buzz has mostly centered on Caleb Williams, Luther Burden and Colston Loveland, and that attention makes sense. Williams is trying to keep building in Ben Johnson’s system, Burden has a path to becoming the team’s top wideout over Rome Odunze with DJ Moore now in Buffalo, and Loveland was recently highlighted by the NFLPA as a rising star.
But there’s another rookie in this class who could force his way into the conversation once August rolls around: third-round tight end Sam Roush.
Roush was the final member of the Bears’ rookie class to sign his contract, and he arrives at training camp buried on a deep tight end depth chart. That hasn’t stopped the possibility of him becoming a real factor.
Even if he starts third, there’s a belief he can make noise in camp and again in the preseason, then work his way into more snaps once the regular season begins. The expectation is not that he’ll light it up immediately.
Colston Loveland needed a few weeks to get going last year, and Roush may need a similar runway. Still, there’s a view that he could put enough pressure on Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson to make Cole Kmet more expendable by the end of the year.
What makes Roush worth watching is that he is not simply a blocking tight end. He brings real athletic juice, backed by a 9.94 RAS score that made him one of the most athletic tight ends in this draft class.
Sam Roush was drafted in round 3 with pick 69 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.94 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 10 out of 1471 TE from 1987 to 2026. https://t.co/srtazBEH3u pic.twitter.com/VvsZFMYmwH
- RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 25, 2026
Athletic testing only goes so far, of course, but Roush has other traits that stand out. He got better every season at Stanford, and as a four-year starter he finished with 119 catches for 1,200 yards in 34 starts.
More than 500 of those yards came in his senior year in 2025. The touchdown total is modest - just four - but that number has to be viewed through the lens of Stanford’s offense, which was mostly anemic and limited what he could do.
The blocking piece matters just as much. If Roush can bring his college blocking over to the NFL, he could earn early playing time and help open things up for Loveland and Kmet. It would also give Ben Johnson another way to lean into 13-personnel more often than he did last season.
The Bears clearly value Roush, taking him in the top 70 despite the limited college scoring production. He brings intelligence, toughness, versatility and athleticism, and he’s the kind of rookie who can sneak up on people if camp and preseason start going his way. By the second half of the season, he could be pushing Kmet for playing time.
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