How Stanford's Sam Roush Compares to Other Tight Ends in NFL Draft

Stanford tight end Sam Roush has declared for the NFL Draft, and should see his stock rise further and further as more and more people become aware of the skills he brings to the table.

Over at ESPN, Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Roush as the eighth-best tight end in the draft, and some sites are projecting that he'll be selected sometime in the fifth round. NFL.com gave him a 6.29 prospect ranking, which equated to eventually being an average starter in the NFL.

They also had this to say of the Stanford tight end, "In a draft landscape full of pass-catching tight ends, Roush stands out as one of the few plug-and-play “Y” tight ends (in-line blocking TE) available. He can make cut-off blocks in zone and combo blocks in gap schemes.

"He holds his own in pass protection, too. As a receiver, he’s not stiff, but he lacks elusiveness underneath. He needs to apply more of his tough playing style to win combat catches and expand his role beyond run blocker/zone beater. While his catch production might draw questions, his size, toughness and pro-ready blocking profile could push him into Day 2 consideration."

Day two consideration would put him in the second to third round of the upcoming draft.

With the draft still more than a couple of months away, leaving plenty of time for Roush to continue to climb up draft boards, we wanted to take a moment to show how he ended up faring in 2025 using PFF+ data, and then comparing him to the top-10 tight ends on Kiper's board.

How Roush ranks

The way this works is that there are three main categories—OFF (grade for offense), PBLK (pass blocking) and RBLK (run blocking)—and each of those categories receives a game-by game grade. Here are the grades for all ten tight ends.

	OFF	PBLK	RBLK
Kenyon Sadiq (ORE)	73.8	76.2	67.5
Dallen Bentley (Utah)	73	62	61.4
Joe Royer (Cincinnati)	60.4	72.4	46.2
Lake McRee (USC)	68.9	72.8	54.9
Max Klare (OSU)	72.3	49.2	73.2
Jack Endries (Texas)	69.5	65.1	69
Eli Raridon ND)	67.5	62.3	55.4
Sam Roush (Stan)	57.1	68.8	57.6
Chamon Metayer (ASU)	56.3	64.5	43.1
Will Kacmarek (OSU)	76.6	72.6	73.6

While his offense grade ranks near the bottom, his blocking ability—both run and pass— is more middle of the road in this group. There were a couple of players ranked ahead of him that had just been pulled from passing plays altogether due to a trend of poor blocking.

Roush had a tough game against North Carolina, putting up a 48.3 pass blocking grade, but of the other 11 games on the schedule, he also had four where he graded higher than a 70 (Hawaii, BYU, Virginia, SJSU), and another four where he was above 65 (Boston College, FSU, Miami, Notre Dame).

His big drawback appears to be his offense. According to the grades, this wasn't exactly the best season for the Stanford tight end, but he has shown in the past that he has the ability to thrive when utilized as a pass-catching tight end. That said, he was still able to catch 49 passes for 545 yards this past season, finding the end zone twice.

Just like with Elic Ayomanor a year ago, it's tough to really judge a Cardinal pass catcher because the offensive line and the quarterback positions have been so in flux the past few seasons. That has an impact on guys like Roush.

Plus the offense had a tough time moving the ball at points this season, and with a standout player like Roush, it's tougher for him to excel when the team is struggling around him, making it easier for the defense to focus on him.

Here is how the stats that he did put up in 2025 compare to the other tight ends on Kiper's list.

	REC	Yards	TD
Kenyon Sadiq (ORE)	51	560	8
Dallen Bentley (Utah)	48	620	6
Joe Royer (Cincinnati)	29	416	4
Lake McRee (USC)	30	450	4
Max Klare (OSU)	43	448	2
Jack Endries (Texas)	33	346	3
Eli Raridon ND)	32	482	0
Sam Roush (Stan)	49	545	2
Chamon Metayer (ASU)	38	375	4
Will Kacmarek (OSU)	15	168	2

In terms of receptions, Roush ranks second behind Sadiq, the top-ranked tight end in the draft. He also ranks third in total yards. The one drawback for him here is that some of the other tight ends put up similar numbers in fewer opportunities, as Roush also had the second-most receptions.

Standing at 6-foot-5, 259 pounds, there is a lot to like about Roush as a pro tight end. Teams will likley be betting on his blocking ability in his early career as his baseline, while working on his offensive ability as he continues his development. Having a solid blocking skilset isn't the worst tool to have in the toolkit come draft day.

How Roush ranks

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