It’s been discussed for almost two weeks. Why did the Chicago Bears draft Sam Roush in the 3rd round? Taking a blocking tight end that early, when they already have two studs in Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, didn’t compute at the time. The primary argument was that Roush was the best blocker in the class and the Bears had lost Durham Smythe to free agency. They wanted to maintain the style of offense they used last year and needed a third tight end to do that. Still, a 3rd round pick felt rich.
However, people might not be looking at this from the right angle. It is possible Bears head coach Ben Johnson saw Roush as a critical piece to seize a competitive advantage over the Seattle Seahawks, the defending Super Bowl champions. How so? The answer lay in recent comments from a college defensive coordinator to ESPN, citing the rise in tight ends like Roush being drafted earlier. It is because offenses are seeking solutions to the rise of NFL defenses playing so much three-high safety these days.
Ohio State’s second tight end, Will Kacmarek, is an in-line player with no college season of more than 22 receptions but still went No. 87 to Miami. Even NFL teams seemingly set up well at the tight end spot, such as the Chicago Bears, were eager to take one on Day 2, adding Stanford’s Sam Roush at No. 69.
“Everybody wants to be in 12 personnel,” an ACC defensive coordinator said, referring to a grouping with one running back and two tight ends. “Everybody’s creating that second tight end as either a flex guy or an H-back kind of guy. That’s why they’re trying to find as many tight ends as they can. … Offenses are trying to find a way to have their new answer for what these defenses are doing. All these three high safety [formations] ain’t no good if you got two stud tight ends in the game.”
Sam Roush is a perfect counter to Seattle’s greatest strength.
What made the Seahawks so dangerous defensively last season was their ability to keep two safeties high, while rookie Nick Emmanwori played a hybrid safety/linebacker role. This meant teams couldn’t so easily gash them through the air when Seattle loaded the box to stop the run, as happened in 2024. As stated above, the best way to counter three-high safety is with heavy packages featuring two or even three tight ends on the field. This gives the offense a significant size advantage, allowing them to run the football more easily.
| Metric | Rank (NFL) | Value/Usage Rate | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Open (Two-High) Rate | 1st | 52.4% | Leads league in starting from two-high safety shells. |
| Nickel Personnel Usage | 1st | 85.7% | Most frequent users of five-DB sets in the NFL. |
| Zone Coverage Rate | 2nd | 80.4% | Heavy reliance on zone rotations behind safety shells. |
| Defensive DVOA | 1st | -24.2% | Best overall defensive efficiency in 2025. |
| Scoring Defense | 1st | 17.2 PPG | Fewest points allowed per game. |
It probably isn’t a coincidence that their division rival, the Los Angeles Rams, had the most success against Seattle offensively. Sean McVay’s team led the NFL in “12” and “13” personnel. They ran the ball effectively in both meetings, putting up 37 and 27 points, respectively. Now you think about this. The Bears will play the Seahawks this year, and expectations are that it will be opening night. You think Johnson isn’t aware of that? He knows that if he wants to stun the defending champions in their own building, he’ll need an offense constructed for the sole purpose of counteracting that mighty defense. That is where Sam Roush comes in.
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Johnson is playing chess at all levels.
One thing we’ve known about the Bears’ head coach is his ability to see the game from every angle. He is always staying on top of trends, figuring out where the league might be shifting. Then he makes adjustments, leaning into that. He recognized, before most coaches did, that downsizing defenses to stop dominant passing games had made them more vulnerable to a strong ground attack. That is why he built his system around running the ball. Now defenses are playing lots of three-high safeties to protect against big plays. If so, fine. Johnson will just ram it down their throat.
We saw him deploy this strategy to perfection against the Philadelphia Eagles last season. Vic Fangio is a master of the high safeties approach. It was essential in that team’s Super Bowl championship in 2024. So Chicago went big up front and railroaded the Eagles for 281 rushing yards. Roush’s arrival is another step toward that identity. The Bears know Seattle defends the gate to the NFC crown. Sometimes the best way to take down a mighty opponent is belting them right in the mouth. They are now equipped to do so.
