The Chicago Bears are going to be without Cole Kmet for the rest of the 2026 season. Kmet was playing 62% of the Bears' offensive snaps, so they are going to need Sam Roush to step up and fill some of the void as his backup. Head coach Ben Johnson said that he is happy with the development of the rookie and is ready to see him take on more of the offense.
"We've been very pleased with the improvement that he's made over these first seven weeks, and so there's a high likelihood that his rep count's going to go up,” said Johnson.
Johnson added that while there have been bumpy moments with Roush, he has shown steady improvement, and they are never worried about him getting stuck in his progression.
He doesn't make the same mistake twice, and I'm confident in what he's going to be able to do for us here back half of the season."
Roush has played 114 snaps, amounting to 21.5%.
Chicago Bears have faith in tight end Sam Roush
Roush has been limited in his role, and he has primarily been on the field for run-blocking situations. Overall, he has 70 snaps on running downs compared to just 44 snaps when the Bears pass the football.
That makes sense because when they have a third tight end on the field, they are likely near the goal line or in short-yardage situations.
Kmet was on the field for 329 snaps and 173 were rushing snaps. So, while the 156 snaps on passing plays are a bit less than rushing, the divide is much more even than what Roush has seen. The team is going to need Roush to perform on the passing downs that he has not played before.
This could also be a sign for the Bears to lean into their wide receiver depth more. Coming into Week 7, the Bears were third in the NFL in the rate of two-tight sets they ran.
However, they rank 15th in expected points added per pass and 28th in EPA per rush out of these formations. They lean into it with no impact.
Meanwhile, the Bears are 25th in three-wide receiver looks. However, they rank eight in EPA per pass and second in EPA per run. While the team is high on Roush and he will fill in for Kmet, their best option might be to have a third receiver replacing Kmet more than Roush.
| More Bears on DaWindyCity |
Add us as a preferred source on Google