"No block, no rock" is a phrase these Chicago Bears live by. Wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El, along with head coach Ben Johnson, stands firm on this offensive pillar.
Rookie tight end Sam Roush might want to start paying attention.
Judging by what we saw in his NFL debut, he won't be on the field all that much if his blocking efforts continue in this direction.
On a day when we saw the likes of Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet, Luther Burden III, and Jahdae Walker deliver some incredible blocks to help lift the Bears to a ridiculous 291 rushing yards, Roush had a couple of particular plays that set off an alarm in my head.
Sam Roush's lack of blocking played a part in his zero targets vs. the Panthers
During the Bears' sixth offensive drive, Caleb Williams and company faced a 3rd-and-3. Williams handed the ball to Kyle Monangai, who was hit in the backfield with no chance to make anything happen.
The culprit?
It was Roush who whiffed on his block, big time, in fact.
On the very next drive, Chicago's offense was held to a field goal attempt by Cairo Santos. The field goal was nearly blocked because of another whiff ... by Roush.
That was still in the first half, mind you, so we had a lot of game left to play -- and Roush never drew a target.
Was it any coincidence that Kmet ended up with one of the (many) plays of the day, catching a touchdown in the corner of the end zone?
Was it any coincidence that Walker scored and Burden ended up with a healthy 63 yards on five targets?
Roush was not targeted once against the Panthers.
That's right.
The Bears scored 59 points and Roush played almost zero part in it.
This is pretty alarming for a player whose best trait, in college, was his blocking ability.
Sam Roush's pro debut saw his best college trait temporarily vanish in real time
The great Lance Zierlein of NFL Media called Roush one of the few plug-and-play Y tight ends in this year's draft class, noting:
"He can make cut-off blocks in zone and combo blocks in gap schemes. He holds his own in pass protection, too."
Zierlein also uses the common phrase "extension of the offensive line" in his assessment of Roush while at Stanford.
This is just one of several college scouting reports on Roush, but also comes from one of the best in the business.
Roush came to the NFL as a great blocker. As teams shift more and more to 12 personnel, the Bears knew they would need another tight end while picturing a future without Kmet, whenever that may be.
Roush's two big blocking whiffs against the Panthers came on crucial downs. One of them forced the Bears to punt while the other nearly took points off the board for Chicago.
These two plays may seem like they're not that big a deal, but to Ben Johnson and Randle El, they are absolutely massive.
You better believe that, once the film comes out this week, Roush is going to get singled out. There's no way around it. Once it appears on film, everybody will see what it was—and it simply wasn't impressive.
It was the opposite of impressive.
The good news is that the Bears still won decisively, and this was Roush's first game in the NFL. He has time to develop, improve, and change his opinions.
Read more: Bears rookies offer more hope than vets after Jaylon Johnson's Week 1 disaster
But he'd better remember the phrase this offense lives by. If he doesn't perform as a blocker, he's not going to get the football. It's that simple.
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