At NFL combine, Ohio State TE Cade Stover takes issue with criticism of his blocking
INDIANAPOLIS – Cade Stover found a home at tight end in the final two seasons of his five-year Ohio State career.
He was a two-time captain respected for his blue-collar toughness and work ethic, which came naturally from his background working on his family's farm in Mansfield.
Before he settled in on offense, Stover played defensive end and linebacker. Because of that, Stover enters the NFL believing he isn't a finished product. Stover is projected as a potential third-round draft pick.
“I don't think you can measure what's inside of me,” he said Thursday at the NFL combine. “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'll become). I'm just scratching the surface.”
Stover was second on the Buckeyes behind Marvin Harrison Jr. in receiving yards last season with 576 and tied Emeka Egbuka for second in receptions with 41. Stover had the most catches by a Buckeye tight end since John Frank in 1981 and '83 and was named a finalist for the John Mackey Award given to the country's top tight end.
Stover was a willing and aggressive blocker, but that part of his game has come under scrutiny. Pro Football Focus gave him a run-blocking grade of 54.4 and a pass-blocking grade of 68.6 last season. The run-block grade ranked 41st out of 69 tight ends that had at least 300 snaps. The pass-block grade ranked 19th.
Stover is a tell-it-like-it-is guy, and he took umbrage over the PFF grades.
“I'm here to tell you old' PFF doesn't know my scheme,” Stover said. “They don't know what the hell I'm doing out there. Yeah, that seems to be a common theme going on here.”
Stover said Ohio State coaches preach to block aggressively. If that results in an occasional miss, that's a price they're willing to accept.
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“If you're afraid to miss, you're not going to get anything done,” Stover said. “You're going to play passive. We were OK with that (occasional miss).
“(If) you missed this one when you're trying to head-hunt somebody, that's trouble. I struggle with that sometimes. I get my head out in front of my shoulder sometimes like I'm still playing defense rather just making a solid block.”
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But Stover took issue with the criticism that the Buckeyes as a team struggled with blocking last year.
“The common thing behind we struggle blocking, I think it's a misconception. I can think of a million blocks (we made). That's life. That's the way it goes. I'm always 100% effort, always full tilt, full time.”
That attitude is why he decided to play in Ohio State's Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri. Stover injured his back in the College Football Playoff semifinal defeat to Georgia the year before, so he knew the risk he was taking by playing in a bowl with lesser stakes.
Asked if he impressed NFL scouts by doing so, Stover said, “My goal wasn't to impress NFL scouts. The goal was to go out there and be with the other guys. Sitting out of that game – I was advised to by agents – I didn't feel comfortable doing that. I couldn't go to sleep at night if I was going to do that.”
Not surprisingly, Stover said he'll do all of the drills at the combine.
“I owe it to myself to do this,” he said. “I owe it to my family to do this.”
Stover is at the combine with seven other Buckeyes, including his close friends Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers. All of them had detours and adversity in their careers.
“I'm just happy I stuck with it and happy I stayed there,” Stover said. “Now it's the day and age, you're not going to find anybody staying for that long and not stick it out like me and Tommy and Steele did. Don't get me wrong – we wanted to play early. But we trusted what they were preaching and bought into the program and got to where we are now.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: At NFL combine, Stover takes issue with criticism of his blocking
