Cade Stover is reuniting with C.J. Stroud in Houston.
He had to wait until Day 3 of the 2024 NFL draft, but Stover got the call from the league on Saturday when he was selected by the Houston Texans with the No. 123 overall pick in the fourth round, reuniting him with his former quarterback at Ohio State.
We only take
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) April 27, 2024
Got our guy, @cstov8 pic.twitter.com/axrpSMu9PE
Stover is the third Ohio State player taken in this year’s draft, joining fourth overall selection Marvin Harrison Jr. and No. 54 overall pick Mike Hall.
He’s the third Ohio State tight end drafted in the last four years, joining Luke Farrell (Jacksonville Jaguars fifth-round pick in 2021) and Jeremy Ruckert (New York Jets third-round pick in 2022).
Coming to Columbus as an outside linebacker, Stover switched to the offensive side of the ball before his second season as a Buckeye in 2020. He became the Buckeyes’ starting tight end in 2022 and racked up 406 yards on 36 catches with five touchdowns. He followed that up with one of the most productive receiving seasons ever for an Ohio State tight end in 2023, hauling in 41 receptions for 576 yards with another five touchdowns.
Stover posted a 4.65-second 40-yard dash, 34.5-inch vertical jump, 9-foot-9-inch broad jump and a 4.45-second 20-yard shuttle at the NFL Scouting Combine this spring. That said, Stover doesn’t believe any statistic tells the full story of who he is as a football player and what he can become at the next level.
“I don't think you can measure what's inside of me. 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,” Stover said at the combine.
Stover will now have the opportunity to catch passes from Stroud, who he described as one of his closest friends back in 2022 when they were teammates at Ohio State.
“It would mean so much to go back with C.J.,” Stover said at the combine. “We were captains together (at Ohio State) two years ago. He was from Rancho Cucamonga, California, I'm from Mansfield, Ohio, polar opposite sides of the world, but I couldn't tell you how much respect and how close I really was with that guy, just for his pure knack of wanting to win and my pure knack of wanting to win. I would love nothing more than to go reunite with him.”
Stover joins a tight end unit led by Dalton Schultz and will likely compete with Brevin Jordan to be the Texans’ No. 2 tight end in 2024.
