Buckeyes TE Cade Stover Ready For Breakout Season

After suffering a hairline fracture in the Peach Bowl, Ohio State tight end Cade Stover is ready to end his time in Columbus on his own terms.

Why did Cade Stover come back for another season at Ohio State? 

Simple: he has unfinished business. 

Stover, one of the top weapons last season in Ryan Day's pass-heavy offense, was expected to be a security blanket for C.J. Stroud against Georgia in the College Football Playoff. With just over a minute remaining in the first quarter, Stroud connected with the 6-6 tight end across the middle of the field for his first catch of the evening and a gain of 7. 

It would be the last time Stover saw action in Atlanta's Peach Bowl. Stover suffered a hairline fracture in his back and needed to be taken to a local hospital for an MRI. 

By the time he was discharged, the game was over. A 41-40 loss for the Buckeyes was all she wrote. Stover had a plane to catch by to Columbus instead of one to Los Angeles. 

"Hardest moment of my life, for sure, so far,” Stover said last week. “You wait your whole life to get to that point, had an opportunity to play in that (playoff game) and that happens. Had my mom and my dad with me. It was hard. It's kind of even hard to talk about to be honest with you, because that team was close and that was a special team, and I wanted to see them do well like that."

The injury has mostly healed. The feeling mostly has not. Stover still is upset that his chance to make an impact for the Buckeyes was cut short due to logistics out of his control. 

A loss where he was impactful? That could have been enough for him to forgo his final year of eligibility. A loss where he watched from afar? Sign him up for another season. 

"I just felt like there was more. As good as the year was, what the team had and everything, there's more left,” Stover said. “I just felt uneasy. I don't know if I'd ever forgive myself leaving a place like this, that I've put so much into, on a note like that.”

Stover is back as the likely leading tight end for 2023. He'll be one of the top receivers returning for either Devin Brown or Kyle McCord this fall after racking up 36 catches for 399 yards and five touchdowns. 

The return, however, could be perplexing to some. After starting his career at defensive end, Stover moved to tight end, and even took reps at linebacker against Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl, never truly finding a permenant home. 

Like his ever-changing role for Ohio State, the Buckeyes have made several offensive switch-ups. Kevin Wilson, the team's offensive coordinator and Stover's position coach, took the head coaching job at Tusla this offseason. Stroud, a two-time Heisman finalist, elected to enter the draft, meaning a new quarterback could look to target other positions. 

That wasn't a deal-breaker for the senior. Stover still believes his best season has yet to come and that 2023 is his breakout year. 

“I can clean up nuances that I really couldn’t focus on because it was my first year playing tight end really,” Stover said. “Now you’ve got a year under your belt and can play a little faster and see things before they actually happen sometimes.”

Stover made sure to be ready for spring practice in hopes of building off his first season in the tight end room. New tight ends coach Keenan Bailey said he is trying to test Stover this spring by putting him in unfamiliar situations and making him uncomfortable because "you don't grow when you are comfortable." 

As a competitor, Stover welcomes the challenge. He wants to be fluent in all aspects of the game so that Ohio State will only take steps forward this fall. 

After all, the whole reason he came back was to finish what he started last December. This time, however, on his own accord. 

"I just felt there’s more to do, and I felt I could be 10 times better than I was, and that’s what I’m going to work towards," said Stover. 

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