{"id":709053,"date":"2026-01-27T14:03:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T14:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/709053\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T14:03:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T14:03:25","slug":"detroit-could-target-this-old-school-tight-end-in-the-2026-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/709053\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Could Target This \u201cOld-School\u201d Tight End in the 2026 Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Detroit Lions <\/a>might be one tight end injury away from seriously testing their depth, and that\u2019s exactly why Stanford\u2019s Sam Roush could quietly become one of the most interesting draft fits for them in 2026.<\/p>\n

Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright <\/a>are both coming off injuries. Neither is expected to be limited long-term, but when you\u2019re building a Super Bowl-caliber roster, you don\u2019t gamble at positions that are central to your offensive identity. And with new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing <\/a>in town, tight end usage could be about to spike even further.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Roush Detroit Lions<\/p>\n

Petzing loves three-tight-end sets. He used them more than just about anyone during his time in Arizona, and his system thrives on versatile, physical tight ends who can block, leak out, and punish defenses in play-action. That\u2019s where Roush fits the picture almost perfectly.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

At 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, Roush is an old-school \u201cY\u201d tight end, the kind who can line up in-line, seal the edge, chip an edge rusher, and still run a clean intermediate route. He\u2019s not a flashy mismatch slot weapon like LaPorta, but that\u2019s the point. He\u2019s the grinder defenses hate dealing with when they\u2019re already worried about Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Roush put together a quietly strong season at Stanford:<\/p>\n

More importantly, scouts consistently describe him as:<\/p>\n

A high-effort, high-motor player<\/p>\n

Reliable hands on crossers, digs, and play-action routes<\/p>\n

A natural fit for short-yardage, red-zone, and protection packages<\/p>\n

Most draft boards currently slot him as a Day 3 pick (Rounds 5\u20137), though some evaluators believe a strong Senior Bowl week could push him into the 3rd or 4th round conversation. He\u2019s already accepted his invitation to Mobile, and that\u2019s where he\u2019ll get the chance to show he can handle NFL edge defenders and linebackers one-on-one, the exact test that will define his ceiling.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

For Detroit, the appeal is obvious:<\/p>\n

Insurance for LaPorta and Wright<\/p>\n

A perfect fit for Petzing\u2019s multi-TE personnel packages<\/p>\n

A physical tone-setter in the run game<\/p>\n

A low-cost, high-upside developmental piece<\/p>\n

A former Team Captain at Stanford<\/p>\n

A player who embodies Dan Campbell\u2019s \u201clunch pail\u201d culture<\/p>\n

Roush may never be a fantasy football darling. But in real football terms? He\u2019s the kind of tight end that helps you close out games, protect your quarterback, and punish teams in December and January.<\/p>\n

And for a Lions team thinking about depth, durability, and doing the little things right, Sam Roush might be exactly what the doctor ordered.<\/p>\n

The post Detroit Could Target This \u201cOld-School\u201d Tight End in the 2026 Draft<\/a> appeared first on Detroit Sports Nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Lions might be one tight end injury away from seriously testing their depth, and that\u2019s exactly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[4566,20717,146,113,2506,24101,7,1674,147,6,7472,86491],"class_list":["post-709053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-amon-ra-st-brown","tag-brock-wright","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroitlions","tag-drew-petzing","tag-football","tag-jahmyr-gibbs","tag-lions","tag-nfl","tag-sam-laporta","tag-sam-roush"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115967440986984747","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}