The Chicago Bears have a plethora of young talent on the offensive side of the ball. Yes, the same Chicago Bears who seemingly haven’t had any consistent promise on that side of the ball since the days of Walter left, Walter right, Walter up the middle.
Ben Johnson obviously deserves credit for utilizing said pieces, but the Bears have done a great job of bringing in the right guys to compliment what Johnson wants to do. This clearly starts with Caleb Williams, but the playmakers are everywhere on paper with the likes of Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland, and D’Andre Swift.
The exciting part is that the majority of these guys are still young and on rookie contracts – outside of Swift. The even more exciting part is that they now have players behind players on rookie deals who are already gaining hype heading into the 2026 season.
Sam Roush Named Amongst 15 Young Players Who Could be Hits
Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic put together a list of 15 players driving league buzz. She also clarifies that these players are rookies drafted in the second round or later and are not starting quarterbacks. In a nutshell – these are not the flashy top 10 picks that clearly have hype surrounding them, but rather some under the radar guys who can potentially be a problem for the league in years to come.
Rodrigue had the below to say about Roush:
The No. 3 tight end position is important in head coach Ben Johnson’s offensive scheme, especially if Johnson wants to play as much 12 personnel as he did in 2025 — and even more 13 personnel. Roush, a blocking tight end with big potential in the passing game, may eventually become the No. 2.
A three-headed monster of Loveland, Kmet, and Roush should give defenses fits this season, but she also sees the potential in Roush to eventually surpass Kmet as the No. 2. We know Loveland will be the Bears’ long-term answer at tight end, but the league continues to trend towards the use of multiple tight ends as they provide matchup nightmares for defenses. It is almost imperative at this point to have at least two tight ends on the roster you are confident in if you want to be successful on offense.
It will be interesting to see how Roush is utilized this season – we expect it to be mainly in a blocking capacity early on. However, Roush has great size and serious YAC potential so he’s also another chess piece for Ben Johnson to employ.
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