The Chicago Bears became a team that doesn’t do things conventionally in the NFL draft once head coach Ben Johnson took over. They became less focused on addressing needs and more interested in taking the best possible player on the board, even if that meant doubling up at a position that didn’t really need more help. That is how they ended up with Luther Burden in 2025 despite already having Rome Odunze and D.J. Moore. However, no position has seen this philosophy more clearly than the tight ends with the arrivals of Colston Loveland and Sam Roush.
Taking Loveland in the 1st round of the 2025 draft was a mild surprise. Many felt the team would go hunting for pass rush help or maybe a left tackle. However, Johnson felt he needed another tight end to run more “12” personnel, which was a big part of his offense. Fair enough. Things got uncomfortable when the Bears grabbed Roush in the 3rd round this past April. There was no way the Bears could justify tight end being a need. This felt like a luxury pick that wouldn’t contribute much outside of occasional blocking.
All of that changed with a disastrous moment in the win over New England on Thursday night.
The Sam Roush pick suddenly looks incredibly fortuitous.
Cole Kmet tore his ACL on that play. His season is over. It is an incredibly sad development for one of the most beloved players on the roster, both inside and outside Halas Hall. On top of that, the Bears are losing one of their biggest offensive chess pieces. Kmet’s excellent versatility as a blocker and receiver made them even harder to match up against. Replacing that would’ve been next to impossible for most teams. Somehow, Johnson’s push to grab Roush looks like a stroke of pure genius.
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Stop for a second and think about where the Bears would be right now if they hadn’t drafted Sam Roush. Suddenly, the depth behind Loveland would be non-existent. They’d have to go hunting for help in free agency or pray one of their guys on the practice squad can fill the void. This would force them to use Loveland as a blocker more often, limiting his impact in the receiving game. Instead, they can simply slide Roush into Kmet’s role. He has a similar skillset—just not the experience. Johnson seems plenty confident he can handle it.
“I’ll start with Sam. We’ve been very pleased with the improvement that he’s made over these first seven weeks. There’s a high likelihood that his rep count is going to go up as a result of what’s going on here. We’ll be able to see the player that we drafted and had high hopes when we took him. Very smart player. He had some rookie hiccups early in the season, like everybody does, and yet he learns. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. I’m confident in what he’s going to be able to do for us here in the back half of the season.”
You can question the process, but not the result.
Right now, in this moment, the Bears would much rather have Roush than not have him. Sure, they didn’t select him in the spring, predicting that Kmet would suffer a season-ending knee injury. It was more about building depth at a key position to allow for more offensive diversity. Still, Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles also know that the tight end position is physical. Injuries happen there more often on average than at others. It is always a smart idea to assemble multiple pieces.
This is why the best-player-available approach always has merit. The Bears felt Roush was too talented to pass on in the 3rd round. In addition to giving them another piece for the offense, they also bought insurance against losing one of their two most important players. Lots of people will never admit the pick was a smart idea. Yet they can’t argue how crucial it’s starting to look, thanks to recent events.
