Draft-Week Buzz
No verified pre-draft news items in the past 30 days for this prospect. See Day 2/3 Team Fits below for projected landing spots and /news.html for the cross-prospect timeline.
Scouting Nugget: Y-TE; blocker + hands
Expanded bio coming soon. This prospect is Tight End #4 in the 2026 class.
Background
Stanford TE from Chicago, IL; four-year Cardinal mainstay and team captain.
College Production
2022-25 Stanford: 1,500+ career rec yds, 10 TDs.
Scouting Take
True Y-TE with plus blocking and reliable hands. Athletic ceiling capped; average route runner.
Draft Projection
Round 3. Starting Y-TE in a 12-personnel offense.
Sources
Our scouting profile is assembled from these primary sources + cross-checked against ESPN (Kiper / Reid / Miller), PFF's 2026 Big Board, Dane Brugler's The Beast 2026, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50. See our full methodology and citations.
Day 2 / Day 3 Team Fits
NFL teams that lost a same-position veteran this offseason — and could target Sam Roush as a Day 2/3 replacement option.
- REPORTED Pittsburgh Steelers: moved on from Jonnu Smith (two-way-TE).
Picks held: R1 #21; R2 #53 - REPORTED Seattle Seahawks: moved on from Will Dissly (blocking-TE).
Picks held: R1 #32; R2 #64
Confidence: "VERIFIED" departures cite a publication URL (Spotrac, OverTheCap, ESPN, NFL.com, team transactions page) confirming the move and date. "REPORTED" entries come from public free-agency trackers without a single canonical source we could attach. Fits are archetype-and-position based; we are not claiming the team has expressed interest in the prospect.
NFL Scheme Fit
NFL Scheme Fit
- 12/13-personnel inline + 6th-OL packages
Baltimore Ravens · Pittsburgh Steelers · San Francisco 49ers · Philadelphia Eagles
Scheme matches are bucketed from the prospect's height, weight, and (for WRs) archetype tag against a static lookup of which NFL teams currently run each scheme family.
Rookie Contract & Landing-Spot Outlook
Projected Rookie Contract Value
~$5.0M – $8.0M (4-year deal) · Pick range: #65-96 · ~50% guaranteed
Mid-pick band — guarantee % varies pick-to-pick
Best-Case / Worst-Case Landing Spot
Why: TE listed in their top-5 positional needs; runs a scheme that maximizes his profile.
Year-1 arc: Day-1 starter window with cap-controlled rookie-contract production.
Why: TE not in their stated top-5 needs; runs a scheme that doesn't naturally amplify his profile.
Year-1 arc: Depth-chart competition + special-teams reps as Year-1 baseline.
Contract band uses the 2026 NFL CBA rookie wage scale projected from the prospect's expected pick range; guarantee % is the slot-default at that pick. Landing-spot best/worst case is derived from TEAMS data (positional needs + scheme overlap minus same-position R1 conflicts) — not a claim that either team has expressed interest.
By the Numbers — 2026 Class Context
- Frame: Among 2026 TE prospects, his 6-5 / 250 lbs frame sits at the 91st percentile in height and 96th percentile in weight.
- Position class: Sam Roush is TE #4 of 23 ranked TEs in the 2026 class. Of those, 3 are projected in the R3 range.
Computed factually from the 2026 prospect class roster — height/weight percentiles benchmark this player against every other ranked prospect at the same position. Recruiting arc compares his high-school 247Sports/Rivals composite to his current projected round.
Sam Roush’s NFL Archetype: Sam LaPorta
Sam LaPorta (Detroit Lions)
Closest TE physical profile in the modern NFL: 6-5/250 lbs. Same frame, same role bucket — NOT a talent or career-arc projection.
Note: this is a physical-profile match — frame, position, role bucket. Not a talent or career-arc projection.
Similar Tight End Prospects
Closest matches to Sam Roush (6-5 / 250 lbs, #4 TE) by ranking proximity and physical profile. SIZE MATCH = within 1″ height and 10 lbs; TIER MATCH = within 2 ranking spots.
- Oscar DelpSIZE MATCH Georgia · 6-5/240 lbs · #5 TE · R3
- Max KlareSIZE MATCH Ohio State · 6-4/245 lbs · #3 TE · R2-R3
- Justin JolySIZE MATCH NC State · 6-4/250 lbs · #6 TE · R3-R4
- Eli StowersSIZE MATCH Vanderbilt · 6-4/240 lbs · #2 TE · R2
- Michael Trigg Baylor · 6-3/245 lbs · #7 TE · R4
Stanford & The 2026 Class
Other R3 prospects in the 2026 class
Different positions, same projected draft tier as Sam Roush.
- Cade Klubnik · QB · Clemson
- Jonah Coleman · RB · Washington
- Skyler Bell · WR · UConn
- Elijah Sarratt · WR · Indiana
- Ja'Kobi Lane · WR · USC
- Brian Parker II · OT · Duke