Sam
Roush.
Sam
Roush.
Stanford· 6'6"· 267 lb· 4.70s 40
"Plug-and-play Y tight end with legitimate in-line pop and Senior Bowl separator hands; Combine testing finally matched a four-year blocking résumé most NFL staffs already trusted."Pre-draft read
Operates as a traditional Y-tight end, aligning tight to the formation or in a wing to block C-gap on gap and outside zone. He wins as a blocker with timing, hip-heavy leverage, and a strong grip, sustaining blocks through the whistle and finishing with intent. His releases are patient, using two-step stems into shoulder turns and subtle head fakes on option routes.
His rugby-honed contact balance allows him to catch through collisions with defensive backs. His hands are strong and late, particularly on crossers and seam benders. While not explosive deep, he tracks the ball over either shoulder and secures it at the catch point. His play strength is evident after the catch, where he chops his feet, extends runs on RPO plays, and works back to the quarterback during scramble drills.
This prospect projects well to a play-action passing attack that prioritizes establishing a physical run game, using boots and waggles to free up the tight end on second-level crossing routes and seam routes.
As a rookie, he projects as a run-blocking specialist who can develop into a versatile two-way starter with high-level value as a primary run-blocker and secondary receiving option in the middle of the field.
He would be a poor fit in a pass-happy spread offense that emphasizes downfield receiving threats and asks its tight ends to win regularly against single-high safeties or boundary cornerbacks.
Roush's strength as a blocker and surprising athleticism make him a versatile asset for a run-heavy scheme, although his receiving development will require patience.
Sam Roush 2025 Regular Season Highlights | Stanford TE
Full senior-year cut showing the Y-blocking base, seam catches and Pitt 8-104 breakout.
Stanford TE Coach Nate Byham Breaks Down Roush Fit With the Bears
Position coach walks through Roush development, blocking mechanics and next-level projection.
Sam Roush at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine
Combine interview and background segment covering the rugby upbringing and Stanford blocking identity.
Roush projects as a versatile in-line Y-tight end whose blocking is scheme-diverse and NFL-ready. He offers a blend of size, 6'6" and 267 lbs, with notable athleticism, highlighted by a 4.70 40-yard dash. This profile suggests he can contribute immediately in blocking roles while developing his pass-catching abilities.
He arrived at Stanford in 2022 and steadily grew into the passing game, culminating in a 32-catch senior year. Despite playing on a 4-8 Stanford offense, his usage increased, and he earned second-team All-ACC honors. His performance in 1-on-1s at the Panini Senior Bowl confirmed his hands were NFL-ready, demonstrating an ability to separate and catch through contact.
Evaluators initially saw him as a Day 3 blocker, but his Combine performance, including a 4.70 40-yard dash and strong vertical/broad jumps, elevated his stock. Board consensus after the Combine and Senior Bowl ranged from late second to early fourth round, with the Chicago Bears ultimately selecting him at pick 69.
- 01
Senior Bowl separator hands
Won 1-on-1s all week in Mobile with strong late hands and body-control catches through contact, checking the box scouts most wanted checked.
- 02
Legitimate in-line blocker
Fits the C-gap on gap and outside zone, times his strike, and finishes with a grip that shows up on tape more often than the whiff.
- 03
Rare frame-plus-testing combo
6'6"/267 with a 4.70 forty, 38.5-inch vertical, 126-inch broad and 7.08 three-cone; athletic ceiling matches the archetype's positional value.
- 04
Rugby-honed contact balance
Absorbs safety and linebacker collisions on crossers and seams without losing the ball, and stays upright through arm tackles after the catch.
- 05
Four-year availability and IQ
Started 37 games across Pac-12 and ACC eras, majored in computer science and earned Al Masters and Tommy Vardell awards for football character.
- 01
Late-uncovering separator
Wins on strong hands more than on burst; struggles to shake off-coverage press safeties on vertical stems, and NFL defenders will squeeze his releases faster.
- 02
Short-area explosiveness average
1.61 10-yard split and long strides mean he takes an extra tick to hit top gear; not a chunk-play threat working the middle of the field.
- 03
Production context
61 career catches and one career 100-yard game came on a 4-8 Stanford offense that force-fed him targets; ceiling of usage is still an open projection.
- 04
Contested-catch inconsistency
Body-catches on high throws and lets a handful of routine passes into his frame; drop rate lived in the mid-single digits across his senior tape.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.70sp50
- Vertical
- 38.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 126inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.08sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.37sp50
- Bench
- 25repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Stanford | 1 | 2 | 34 | 0 |
| 2023 | Stanford | 12 | 28 | 288 | 0 |
| 2024 | Stanford | 12 | 40 | 334 | 2 |
| 2025 | Stanford | 12 | 49 | 545 | 2 |
| Career | — | 37 | 119 | 1201 | 4 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- Ben GulbransonQB22%
- Elijah BrownQB14%
- CJ WilliamsWR14%
#5 of 14 tracked contributors · Production leaned on volume · Offense explosiveness 1.22 (p39) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Athletic Y with real testing numbers and a still-developing route tree who contributes on two-tight-end downs before the passing role fills in.
Big-bodied Y who blocks from an in-line stance and grows into a reliable seam and red-zone target — the Ringer's own comp and the on-brand ceiling.
Reliable TE2 who blocks, chips and works the underneath map without ever becoming a volume pass-catcher — the floor if the receiving growth stalls.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
**Pre-draft context**
Sam Roush arrived at Stanford in 2022 as a three-star tight end from Lipscomb Academy in Nashville who had spent as much of his youth on rugby pitches as football fields. He was recruited as a project blocker with pass-catching upside and asked to earn the field on special teams and heavy personnel before the offense trusted him with route volume. The path was slow — a redshirt-style debut in 2022 with a single appearance, 8 catches as a blocker-first Y in 2023, 21 the next fall in Troy Taylor's first season — and then a senior year that finally let the whole profile show up. He finished with 32-388-3 receiving, second-team All-ACC honors, the Al Masters and Tommy Vardell awards inside the program, and a Panini Senior Bowl invite where he was routinely mentioned as the best tight end on the roster by the Wednesday practice report.
**NFL fit — Chicago Bears**
Chicago selected him at pick 69 to give the offense a true in-line Y who can survive on early downs while the veteran tight end keeps the pass-catching lead. Roush projects as an immediate 12-personnel piece: attached to the tackle on outside zone, motioned across the formation as a lead blocker, chipping and releasing on play-action. The passing role should grow. His Combine — 4.70, 38.5" vertical, 126" broad, 7.08 three-cone at 267 lbs — matches Kmet's own testing profile almost line for line, and the Senior Bowl 1-on-1s confirmed the hands were NFL-ready. The path is a rookie year of blocking snaps and situational routes with a Year 2 leap into a legitimate two-tight-end passing role.
**Retrospective**
Too early to close, but the shape of the projection is clean. If Roush becomes a Kmet-level TE2 who occasionally leads the room in a given week, this is a fair-value Round 3 hit. If the receiving development stalls at flats and crossers, he still gives Chicago a plus in-line blocker on a rookie deal, which is exactly what the pick was budgeted for.