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Welcome to Houston Cade Stover

I kid you not because for everyone's info there's a video out in social media of our brand new
TE massaging a bull - it has got to be TORO !
 
Stover responds to reports of his questionable blocking.

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NFL Draft: Ohio State tight end Cade Stover comes from sturdy stock, expects to flourish in pros
Scott Petrak - The Chronicle-Telegram
Apr 22, 2024 8:44 AM

Some draft analysts have focused on Stover’s blocking. Pro Football Focus gave him a run-blocking grade of 54.4 for last season and a pass-blocking grade of 68.6. His eyes went to another level of seriousness when responding to the criticism.

“I’m here to tell you, old PPF or PFF, whatever the hell it is, they don’t know my scheme, they don’t know what the hell I’m doing out there,” he said. “But that seems to be a common theme going on here. If you’re afraid to miss, you’re not going to get nothing done, you’re going to play passive.

“I think it’s a misconception. I can think of f—— a million blocks, but that’s life, that’s how it goes. Always 100 percent effort, always full tilt.”

Bailey also doesn’t understand the criticism. When the coaches put together the game plans to face their best opponents, they did so with Stover as their No. 1 blocker.

“If you look across his career how many times he was asked to block the defense’s best block-destruction guy, which is a defensive end, it was over and over and over again,” Bailey said. “And this is no offense to any other tight end in the draft, but I think if you take (Georgia’s Brock) Bowers and (Texas’ Ja’Tavion) Sanders and all these other guys combined, I don’t know if they were asked to block a premier edge rusher as many times as we asked Cade in the run game and pass protection.”

The Browns could use a young No. 2 tight end behind Pro Bowler David Njoku. Bailey crossed paths with new tight ends coach Tommy Rees at Notre Dame and said he’s spoken plenty with the Browns about Stover.

Getting drafted by Cleveland would make life simpler for Stover. I-71 is a few minutes from Browns headquarters, and Mansfield and the farm an hour south.

“I don’t think you can measure what’s inside of me,” he said. “I don’t think you can measure the kind of person I am. I don’t think you can measure how good of a football player I’m just scratching the surface to really be.

“I’m going to do everything you want me to do exactly how it should be done every single time with everything I’ve got.”

READ THE WHOLE STORY
 

SCOUTING REPORT: WEAKNESSES​

  • Lacks speed to maintain space, and can be run down by faster athletes.
  • No elite athletic trait to heavily rely on.
  • Catch radius is not great, not easily able to pull in off-target passes
  • Needs to adapt to complex defensive schemes to be successful against the more sophisticated and faster-paced play in the NFL
  • Plays too tall in routes, and lacks elite sink and flexibility.
  • Blocking skills are very underdeveloped
I like the pick despite this. I think coaching and Stroud is what he will mature with. TEs behind Shultz need to pick it up or...
 
badboy said:

SCOUTING REPORT: WEAKNESSES​

  • Lacks speed to maintain space, and can be run down by faster athletes.
  • No elite athletic trait to heavily rely on.
  • Catch radius is not great, not easily able to pull in off-target passes
  • Needs to adapt to complex defensive schemes to be successful against the more sophisticated and faster-paced play in the NFL
  • Plays too tall in routes, and lacks elite sink and flexibility.
  • Blocking skills are very underdeveloped
I like the pick despite this. I think coaching and Stroud is what he will mature with. TEs behind Shultz need to pick it up or...
Click to expand...
You could say most of, if not all of this, to some degree about all rookies.
The NFL is a step up for all of them.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1784272384725258259


4. Cade Stover, TE, Ohio State Buckeyes​

Height: 6-4, Weight: 247 lbs, 40-yard-dash:4.65

SPORQ: 70.6, Former: 4-star, Age: 23.9

Proj. Draft Capital: Round 3 (TE3)

Brett Whitefield Film Score: 75.6 (TE6)

Prospect Profile​

Stover was named Ohio’s Mr. Football as a high school senior (playing linebacker and running back), and in basketball, he led Lexington High to the state final four his junior season and also set the school's all-time scoring record that same year. Perhaps somewhat understandably (given his inexperience at the TE position), he accomplished very little throughout his first three seasons at Ohio State (5 total catches), playing behind Round 3 pick TE Jeremy Ruckert. With Ruckert gone, Stover “broke out” in 2022 – 36 catches, 406 yards (4th on the team), and 5 touchdowns. Stover would then improve upon those numbers in his 5th and final season with the team – 41 catches, 576 yards (2nd-most on the team), and 5 touchdowns.

Those numbers might not immediately stand out, but they should within a broader context. Stover ranked 2nd on the team in receiving yards last year, behind Marvin Harrison Jr. (the near-unanimous WR1 in the class) and ahead of Devy WR4 Emeka Egbuka, senior Julian Fleming (Devy ~WR70), Devy WR7 and 5-star sophomore Carnell Tate, and Devy WR17 and 5-star sophomore Brandon Inniss. In other words, that’s some pretty insane target competition. And once accounted for, Stover’s production profile appears significantly more impressive.

It’s also worth pointing out that Stover played through much of the 2023 season with a nagging knee injury. As far as I can tell, this injury first popped up against Penn State (causing him to wear a bulky knee brace throughout the remainder of the season). He went 0-0-0 in the following game (Wisconsin), then sat out the next week against Rutgers, and then continued to play through this injury throughout the remainder of the season. Despite this injury, he opted to play in the team’s Bowl Game against Missouri, but played more sparingly (41% route share) and turned in another 0-0-0 line. You’d think this injury might have impaired his per-route efficiency metrics, but his 2.04 YPRR was still the best single-season mark of any non-Bowers TE in the class (min. 225 routes). And he was historically efficient on a per-target basis. He ended the season with an 11.3 YPT average – the 6th-best mark of any Power 5 TE (min. 50 targets) since 2015, behind seasons from Bowers (2X), Kyle Pitts, T.J. Hockenson, and Irv Smith Jr. And across his career, ranks 2nd-best in the class by career YPT over expectation (+21.9%), in between Bowers (+33.5%) and Bell (+21.5%).

Beyond that, it’s also important to point out that Ohio State has rarely used their TEs in the passing game. (This makes a lot of sense, as Ohio State’s WR room has been legendarily elite since Brian Hartline joined the staff.) Since 2015, Ohio State has seen three of their TEs get drafted on Day 2. And Stover easily blows them all away (or, really, any TE in Ohio State history) in every meaningful statistical category. Since 2015, Ohio State has never seen a TE eclipse 310 receiving yards, nor clear a 1.30 YPRR average. Stover, meanwhile, easily cleared 310 yards twice (406 and then 576), and also averaged 2.04 YPRR in his final season — the best single-season mark from any non-Bowers TE in the class (min. 225 routes). As a final bonus, he ranks 3rd-best in the class by career yards after the catch per reception (6.5), behind only Bowers and Bell.

TL;DR / Conclusion​

My model didn’t immediately love Stover, but I feel like I can make a compelling upside argument for him. I would say definitively that he has no worse than the fourth-best analytics profile in the class. In terms of the fantasy range of outcomes, I envision Stover as either “Cade Otton on Will Fuller’s Steroids” or “90% Dalton Kincaid.”
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1784272205565526291
 
powda said:
Another one we'll barely use and waste a pick on next year to replace.
Click to expand...

This feels different 1 b/c of the connection with CJ..2 b/c of the coaching staff and regime drafting him & 3, b/c of his mentality. Guys in the past that we’ve taken at the position are either pass catchers trying to make the transition to becoming effective blockers (Brevin Jordan, Dressen, Griffin, Daniels) or vice versa (Fido) or are making the transition to the position period (James Casey, Warring).

This kid’s background as a defensive player bodes well for him at a position that requires he have to mix it up a little at times. And based on him not having a single drop last year, his hands are damn good it appears.

I believe we have Gronk-lite….or better yet baby George Kittle.
His response to the PFF grading of his blocking in the article CNND posted…yeah, this kid knows what it is.
 
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Mr teX said:
This feels different 1 b/c of the connection with CJ..2 b/c of the coaching staff and regime drafting him & 3, b/c of his mentality. Guys in the past that we’ve taken at the position are either pass catchers trying to make the transition to becoming effective blockers (Brevin Jordan, Dressen, Griffin, Daniels) or vice versa (Fido) or are making the transition to the position period (James Casey, Warring).

This kid’s background as a defensive player bodes well for him at a position that requires he have to mix it up a little at times. And based on him not having a single drop last year, his hands are damn good it appears.

I believe we have Gronk-lite….or better yet baby George Kittle.
His response to the PFF grading of his blocking in the article CNND posted…yeah, this kid knows what it is.
Click to expand...

It's a compelling argument and a good post. Unfortunately, we've seen it before - a LOT. I do not buy into drafting tes when we need help elsewhere. We waist limited draft capital and the hit rate on the position is minute.
 
Im going to stick to my guns. I don't like any of the picks made this draft.

I didn't believe that Stroud was the right pick (QB to be more precise was never against Stroud, just drafting QB in general at the time) and I for now on disagree with every move the Texans make.

I am the living, breathing... S2 and as such none of these bums will amount to anything. The living S2 has spoken!!

I do like that they know eachother already... but...it wont matter.... cause ^
 
From a May 2023 PFF article-

Unlike Yurosek, Stover has no such issues as a run blocker. He made five big-time blocks this past season (PFF’s highest-graded blocks), which was tied for fourth among Power Five tight ends.

Working against Stover as a receiver is the fact that he plays with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, the two best returning wide receivers in college football. He still impressed as a pass catcher, though, as his 110 receiving yards after contact ranked 11th among Power Five tight ends.

https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-top-returning-tight-ends-2023
 
powda said:
It's a compelling argument and a good post. Unfortunately, we've seen it before - a LOT. I do not buy into drafting tes when we need help elsewhere. We waist limited draft capital and the hit rate on the position is minute.
Click to expand...
powda said:
It's a compelling argument and a good post. Unfortunately, we've seen it before - a LOT. I do not buy into drafting tes when we need help elsewhere. We waist limited draft capital and the hit rate on the position is minute.
Click to expand...
specify the "elsewhere" of which you speak, please. WR, DL, and RB were addressed in F/A. They drafted DBs and OL. This draft class is weak defense-wise. What spot would you rather have addressed? I'm curious.

To be clear, I thought Jordan, Schultz, and Beck were good enough as TE/FB spot is concerned but if the guys are right and Stroud put in a word for this guy, I'm okay with it. I mean Stroud was right about Tank Dell :)
 
powda said:
It's a compelling argument and a good post. Unfortunately, we've seen it before - a LOT. I do not buy into drafting tes when we need help elsewhere. We waist limited draft capital and the hit rate on the position is minute.
Click to expand...
We've seen far more draft capital wasted in the league on QBs. Yet we took a chance with Stroud, Panthers took a chance on Bryce... it happens every year.. booms and busts all over the place.

IF CJ wanted him, he was worth it whether it pays off or not.... because it makes your QB feel valued. It makes them happy for more than just reasons of a paycheck

Whether it will turn out that you can easily replace a player like Stover or not.... replacing CJ is not an easy task... so... keep him happy when its as easy as taking a chance on a TE.
 
Hope we didn't draft him just because of the Stroud connection or if he "requested it" or whatever. But yeah besides that sounds good.
 
I watched an Ohio state game this season and he jumped out to me. Big body tight end who can catch. Hope he flourishes with us. Also great value. He’s a 3rd rounder imo. Didn’t have great qb play this season
 
calishung7717 said:
Based on what exactly?
Click to expand...

It's an nfl office, with nfl ownership, an nfl gm, an nfl coaching staff with a 20+ year track record of Owen Daniel's and who? The Texans don't just miss, the wide majority of the league does and has for decades.

So let me return the favor. You asked me based on what and I named it. Why do you think this guy is special? Based on what exactly?
 
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