Caleb Williams raved about Stanford's Sam Roush on the New Heights Podcast, calling the rookie tight end a "freak of nature" who gives Chicago three elite options at the position.
Former Stanford Cardinal Sam Roush hasn't even played in an NFL game yet, but he is already getting a lot of praise from his teammates.
Speaking on the New Heights Podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams talked about his tight end room, and said that the team has three really good tight ends to work with, while also giving heaping praise to the newcomer from Stanford.
The Chicago Bears already have tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, and still decided to draft Roush in the third round of this year's draft. They also seem to have big plans for the 6-foot-5 Atlanta, Georgia native.
A strong pass catcher and blocker, Williams sees Roush giving the Bears' offense a huge advantage and allowing them to really open things up in year two under head coach Ben Johnson.
"I got a third one now," Williams said in response to the Kelces saying that the Bears have two elite tight ends. "You haven't seen him, there's more. We got a new guy, a new rookie guy. He's built like the other guys also.
"Tall, he's smooth, he's a freak of nature. Run block, pass block, catch, all of that. So, whatever we need, we've got three of those now. We're juiced — I'm juiced. It's always an advantage when you can have one tight end, but when you have three that can do it all, it's a big advantage."
Roush flew under the radar early on in his Stanford career, but after becoming a starter in his 2023 sophomore season, he proceeded to get better each year. After catching 28 passes for 288 yards in that 2023 campaign, Roush saved his best for last, hauling in a career-high 49 catches for 545 yards and two touchdowns in 2025, earning second-team All-ACC honors.
Establishing himself as an NFL draft prospect over the course of his college career, Roush will look to become the latest addition to Stanford's coveted Tight End U list when he takes the field for the Bears.
Overall for his college career, Roush made 119 catches for 1,201 yards and four touchdowns in 48 games, consistently being a bright spot for a Stanford program that never won more than four games in any of his four seasons there.
Finishing 11-6 last season and making the playoffs for the first time since 2020, the Bears won their first playoff game since 2010 as well, beating the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round before seeing their season end in the divisional round at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams.
Still, hope for the future of Bears football is high. If Roush can be that missing piece to the Bears' Super Bowl goals, expect the franchise to be contenders for a long time.
For Stanford, not having Roush this season is going to hurt, but with a strong recruiting and portal class set to come to The Farm this season, the Cardinal should be able to establish a new identity fairly quickly.
With Stanford finishing 4-8 last season and without a bowl game since 2018, first-year head coach Tavita Pritchard will look to bring the Cardinal back to national relevance in 2026.
