Final Report

Sam Roush is about an inch of arm length away from being a first-round pick and my TE1 in this class. Roush's elite vert, broad, and very good 40 are historically rare in a body as massive as his. In a league that is desperate for 2000s-style tanks at the position that can do anything in the pass game, he is almost a godsend for modern offenses. His technique as a blocker is fantastic and his strength even more impressive. When he lands the hands on people, they recoil. As a pass-protector, he mirrors and stifles even good edge rushers the way a tackle can. He's got legitimate smoothness, speed, YAC ability, and a feel for zones to go along with all of that. As an offensive lineman you can use underneath and in the intermediate and detach in run-action, he's everything the league is desperate for when they spend millions on guys like John Bates and Charlie Kolar who can't even do any of that. The issue is that his arms are not just short, they are borderline impossible to imagine. Despite the technique and strength, he has issues controlling defenders and must survive being yanked around. He does, and I think he can do that in the NFL and be serviceable, but a big part of the value of a 267 pounder with athleticism is his ceiling as a blocker. That ceiling is questionable even if I do think he will be good enough to survive in-line. As a receiver his ceiling is not off the charts either. He's good, but the main concern is that he isn't an elite matchup winner and pure separator against true man coverage. but if it came with Josh Oliver-esque blocking, it would be enough to form an elite overall player. If he even had regular-short arms, I would have no problem projecting that. The rest of the package is so good that regardless, I must be a big fan.

Recommended Position

TE

Round Grade

2nd-Early 3rd

Player Comp

Frank Wycheck

Scheme Fits