After the Chicago Bears selected Iowa center Logan Jones with the 57th overall pick in the second round, the team was originally slated to pick again at 60.
But that never happened. Chicago traded the pick it acquired from the Buffalo Bills and sent it to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for No. 69 overall and No. 144.
With the No. 69 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Bears selected Stanford tight end Sam Roush. A surprising selection considering the Bears drafted Colston Loveland No. 10 overall last year and have veteran tight end Cole Kmet cemented as the top two tight ends on the roster.
So, why would the Bears take a tight end in the third round when the team still had other pressing areas to address? The simple answer is and the one the Bears followed is sticking to their big board.
Here is what Bears director of player personnel Trey Koziol told reporters at Halas Hall about what the Bears' board looked like in terms of potential defensive options before Roush was taken.
"You saw there was a good run on there of defensive guys kind of in that middle to late in the second round and so once we looked at it and like we said, Ryan (Poles) and Jeff (King) do a great job of kind of sequencing and you look at the board and it's, you know, the board sometimes will speak to you," Koziol said. " And so we evaluated a lot of options, do you trade up, do trade back, what's available? And we took the best players that were there. And I think that when you stay true to that process, you end up with some pretty good results."
The 6-foot-6, 267-pound tight end finished his final season at Stanford with 545 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 49 receptions. He also had seven drops last season.
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
When asked to identify his strengths, Koziol provided a detailed response about the newest member of the Bears' tight end room.
“I would say for him, coming from Stanford, it's easy to see because they do run a lot of pro-style stuff. So you will see him with his hand in the ground firing off at a defensive lineman doing a lot of the things that translate to our level. But I think he's a big man and when you see him in person, he definitely looks the part, so he runs off the ball. He’s got physicality at the point of attack.
He's another guy that looks to finish. You see the intensity where there's buy-in in the run game, which a lot of times at the college level is, can be hit or miss, especially for somebody, who's been used in the past game like he has. So to have the combination of those two things, and I think you saw that with Colston last year too. Like somebody who can go and be a factor in the pass game, but it's going to give you the same kind of effort on the backside of his own run. I think that's really special.”
Stanford TE Sam Roush is headed to Chicago 🐻Caleb Williams gets another weapon 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ErQHGg7WcU
It's no surprise that coach Ben Johnson likes to utilize the tight end position. According to Sumersports, the Bears used 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends) 8.52% of the time -- fifth most in the NFL. The Bears also finished sixth in the league in 12 personnel (32.64%)
Those heavy personnel packages helped the Bears become the No. 3 rushing team in the NFL last season, but also provided Caleb Williams additional protection on passing plays.
Roush will likely fill the role that tight end Durham Smythe had in 2025. The veteran tight end played 293 offensive snaps (25.4%) last season.
After Roush's rookie season, then there will likely be a conversation about Kmet's future with the organization. The 2027 season will be his final year under contract, but Poles reassured Kmet's value on this team.
“We do a good job, between Ben and I, we communicate really well just to give those guys a heads up and let them know what the role and the situation is," Poles said. "Nothing changes for Cole. Our feelings for Cole don’t change. Again, we're top five in 12- and 13-personnel. If something were to happen injury wise to Cole or Colston (Loveland), all of the sudden you're changing a lot of stuff, a lot of game plan stuff that is kind of your bread and butter. We feel good about that room and the guys that are in there.”
When analyzing why the Bears drafted a tight end in the third round, it's not hard to understand the reasoning. However, Poles track record in the third round may have triggered some Bears fans when Roush's name appeared on social media and television screens.
Velus Jones Jr., Zacch Pickens, Kiran Amegadjie, Roush and Zavion Thomas are now a part of Poles' round three group, but the Bears' tight end should have a defined role with the opportunity to expand as he progresses in his NFL career.