Cade Stover scouting report: Exploring the Ohio State tight end's strengths and weaknesses

Initially recruited as a linebacker inside the top 100 of the 2019 class, Cade Stover was used in the defensive front seven as a rotational player his first two years with the Buckeyes before switching to tight-end.

After catching five passes for 76 yards in 2021, he turned 36 receptions into 406 yards and five touchdowns as a redshirt junior. In 2023, he put up career-highs in catches (41) and yards (576), along with five more TDs. His efforts earned him second and first-team All-Big Ten recognition by the coaches and media respectively.

Cade Stover scouting report

Blocking:

• Legit Y tight end with a heavy workload playing in-line and a linebacker mindset approaching contact
• Excels at securing the end-man at the line of scrimmage and allowing his tackle to overtake, while cutting off a scraping linebacker on outside zone
• Does an outstanding job of sealing off guys on the backside, urgently covering ground laterally and swiveling his hips around
• Capable of displacing C-gap defenders and providing a lot of space for pullers coming around on power/counter etc. toward him
• Seems comfortable blocking on the move, either on kick-outs or lead blocks out to the corner, such as on sweep plays
• With how sturdy he is, Stover doesn’t need to overextend and can take a blow to his chest from safeties without giving them an angle around him on screen passes
• Has the frame and plays with the sink in his hips to be an effective pass-protector (68.6 PFF grade in that regard last season)
• Legitimately gets edge defenders airborne when he delivers chips before getting out in his route

Releases & route-running:

• For a converted tight end with his size, Stover releases pretty easily from a staggered stance or a hand in the ground
• His burst from a two-point stance to get up the seam is a lot more impressive than out of an in-line alignment
• Already has shown substantial improvements at setting up intermediate breaks, with a sharp drive step to come out flat and not allow angles to undercut him
• Can use his size to create openings for the ball as he slightly pushes off at the break-point
• Light on his feet and reduces the near-shoulder well to evade ancillary zone defenders, yet if they do get a piece of him, Stover typically isn’t pushed off track too far usually
• Quick to get his head around as he enters voided space and became a safety blanket for an otherwise confidence-lacking Kyle McCord – hauled in 29 of 32 targets of less than ten yards last season
• Earned PFF receiving grades above 93 for every level of depth (negative, 0-9, 10-19 and 20+ yards) and averaged a career-best 2.02 yards per route run in 2023

Approaching the catch & YAC:

• Attack targets at their earliest available window and with optimal use of his hands – only dropped two passes in 2022 and none last year across 100 combined targets (and 79 catchable ones)
• Actively works back to the ball with defenders closing on it, to not have passes broken up
• Strong hands to survive defenders making contact with his backside and raking through the catch-point
• Showed insane hand-eye coordination in the 2023 Notre Dame game to come down with a pass that got batted around on a prayer from QB Kyle McCord over the middle
• Catches and pierces on targets where he turns back toward the quarterback, getting vertical immediately and turning his pads away to minimize surface area
• Becomes a tank to bring down with the ball in his hands, as defenders just slip off him or he drags them along – averaged a substantial 6.9 yards after the catch this past season
• You see him spin off hits and even hurdles diving attempts occasionally

Weaknesses:

• Tends to lead with his pads and could still latch his hands more emphatically to stay connected as a run-blocker
• Doesn’t offer a whole lot of juice vertically or after the catch – Not somebody who’s going to threaten the seams for you, to where you see linebackers catch back up and make plays on the ball
• Still developing his stem work and how to set up eventual breaks as a route-runner
• There’s some stiffness in his upper body trying to adjust and contort for passes without losing speed
• Showed up lighter than expected at the combine (247 pounds), yet his 4.65 in the 40 and the 36.5-inch vertical were both slightly below average, he finished dead-last among tight-ends with a 9’8” broad jump and he second-to-last in the short shuttle (4.45)

Watching Stover with the background knowledge of him being a former linebacker does make you notice a slight difference in the way he moves. Yet, it also shows up in his affinity for contact and battling with front-seven defenders.

I feel confident in his ability to get on the field quickly, since on top of what he provides in the run game, he does settle effectively in open areas and is fundamentally sound in how he approaches passes, catching pretty much everything coming his way. If he can grow his route tree, he can be a quality starter in the NFL; worthy of a top-100 selection.

Grade: Third round