Stover embraces move to tight end
Strong work ethic helps 'farmer' learn position
Cade Stover played seemingly everywhere at Lexington High School while winning Ohio’s Mr. Football award.
He was a running back. He was a linebacker. He also played safety at times. Some projected him as a college defensive end.
But Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, who also coaches tight ends, thought he would be ideal for his position.
“They wouldn’t let me talk to Cade when he was coming out,” Wilson said. “They wanted him to play defense. I’m like, ‘Man, his body says tight end to me.’ ”
Wilson eventually prevailed. After spending his freshman season at linebacker, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound Stover was moved to tight end before last season.
“I’d never taken a snap at tight end in my whole life until I got here,” Stover said. “Never.”
But Wilson has coached long enough to believe it was the right position.
“To me, it’s body types, the bone structure,” Wilson said. “It’s not how tall you are, and it’s not how much you weigh. It’s really just the girth and width of your shoulders, knees, hips and hands, that you can have the ability.”
Ohio State was able to be patient with Stover’s development. He wasn’t needed much last year with senior Luke Farrell and junior Jeremy Ruckert carrying the load for the position. But Farrell, a reliable blocker who was perhaps the most underappreciated player on last year’s offense, is now in the NFL.
“We need him to replace Luke [Farrell],” Day said of Stover. “That’s really what we’re looking for.”
So far, so good.
“Cade’s on the right track,” Ruckert said. “His care factor is really, really high. He really wants to be great. He wants to push himself to be the best, and you see bits and pieces of it every day, getting more efficient. I feel like he’s just really become more of a dominant force and starting to play more free and dominate in all aspects of playing tight end.”
Work ethic certainly isn’t an issue. Stover’s family has a farm in Mansfield that includes about 80 Black Angus cows. When he wasn’t playing sports — he was also a basketball star — Stover worked on the farm along with his sisters.
“That’s everything,” he said. “I’ve (attributed) everything I’ve ever done to the way I was raised, the way my family is. There’s not a night I don’t call my mom and Facetime and see my sisters. If I didn’t do that, they’d think I’m dead in a ditch somewhere maybe.”
Stover acknowledged that he’s still learning the finer points of playing tight end. Last season being an abbreviated one didn’t help. He’s trying to make up for lost time.
“I’ve always hung my hat on being the hardest worker,” he said. “I just don’t get outworked by anybody, whether it’s somebody that’s better than you physically, more talented, anything. As long as I take care of what I can take care of, I think God’s going to take care of the rest.”
Stover is happy with his progress. “I feel good,” Stover said. “I feel I’m in the swing of things.”
No matter how successful he becomes as a football player, much of his heart will be back in Mansfield.
“I’m a farmer,” he said. “It’s what I do. I play football also.”