Bears select Sam Roush in 3rd round of NFL draft

The Chicago Bears selected Stanford tight end Sam Roush with the 69th overall pick in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft on Friday evening.

Roush (6-6, 267 pounds) was a four-year mainstay for the Cardinal from 2022-25, helping the team transition from the Pac-12 conference to the ACC as part of a conference realignment in 2024. In 48 collegiate games, Roush caught 119 passes for 1,201 yards and four touchdowns. Roush's best year came in 2025 as he caught 49 passes for 545 yards and two touchdowns

Roush comes from a family of sports royalty, especially as it pertains to football. His father, Luke, played football at Duke, his mother, Brooke, played volleyball at Montana State, his maternal grandfather, Phil Olsen, played football at Utah State and in the NFL (including two seasons with the Denver Broncos from 1975-76), and his maternal great uncle was Pro Football Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen.

At the 2026 NFL combine, Roush was clocked as the fourth-slowest tight end with a 4.70 40-yard dash. NFL.com's Lance Zeirlien has compared Roush to Buffalo Bills tight end Dawson Knox.

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah ranked Roush as the fifth-best tight end on his top 150 player big board, and the 83rd-best prospect overall going into the draft.