Cade

Stover

Scruggs (foot) and Stover (emergency appendectomy) will likely miss multiple weeks. Everyone else on Houston’s questionable line: Kenyon Green (shoulder), Jamal Hill (knee), Nick Broeker (hand), and Christian Harris (calf) will play. Sims, Hughes, and Hinish are healthy scratches.

Per the team, Stover is expected to make a full recovery and is doing well. The rookie could miss a few weeks while he recovers but isn’t likely to land on injured reserve. Stover has 14 receptions for 132 yards and a touchdown this season. Irv Smith will serve as Dalton Schultz’s backup while Stover is sidelined.

Stover has consistently been in the ancillary receiver force for the Texans, with multiple targets in every game in his last four. He scored on a busted coverage on Houston’s first play from scrimmage, and out-targeted Dalton Schultz for the first time. It’s likely that this was just a flash-in-the-pan performance, but Stover is on the field plenty for the Texans and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he eventually overtook Schultz as their main tight end in 2025.

The injury will sideline Jordan for the remainder of the 2024 season. It’s a disappointing development for a player that looked to be on the rise, but now will not be able to play until 2025. Dalton Schultz will remain the starting tight end for the Texans, with Cade Stover — and potentially Irv Smith Jr. — seeing more reps along the way.

PFF’s Nathan Jahnke notes all Texans tight ends played for extended durations due to a injury-thinned personnel group. Schultz is the team’s TE1 but rookie Cade Stover made the most of his opportunities, catching 3-of-3 targets for 32 yards, including one target earned on his lone first-team snap.

The Texans traded up to select Stover in the fourth round of last month’s draft. The former Ohio State tight end is unlikely to contribute much in his rookie season playing behind Dalton Schultz but was viewed as one of the better tight ends in the draft throughout much of the pre-draft process. Stover totaled 82 receptions for 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns during his time with the Buckeyes, with most of that production coming in the final two years of his five-year career. He’s an interesting stash in dynasty leagues, but shouldn’t be relied on too heavily in season-long leagues at this time.

Initially recruited as a linebacker, Stover (6'4/247) switched to defensive end before his freshman season in 2019. He flipped to back linebacker while also working as a tight end in 2020 but saw nearly all of his reps on special teams. Stover finally became a full-time tight end in 2021, only to be forced into a starting role at linebacker for the Rose Bowl because of various absences on the defensive side of the ball. This time it counted in 2022 as Stover, a tight end once again, racked up 406 yards and five scores on 36 catches. He amassed an impressive 22 percent of the Buckeyes’ receiving output in 2023 with 576 yards on 41 grabs in his final season. Given that he was playing alongside Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, that’s an outlandish feat. For a late convert to the position, Stover’s routes are more polished than one would expect and he has no issues striking at the ball with his hands instead of letting it reach his body. If Stover can develop a mean streak as a blocker, he could become an all-purpose tight end.

Stover (6'4/255) appeared in just four games last season, thus preserving a season of eligibility. Having rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns as a high school senior, the redshirt freshman is capable of having an impact with the ball in his hands. This will be Stover’s second position change since joining the Ohio State program, as he moved from LB to EDGE late last season.

Stover (6'4/225) took an unofficial visit to Penn State for their win over Michigan on Saturday (also one to Ohio State in Week 2) and is hopeful that he can make the trip to South Bend for this coming weekend’s showdown between Notre Dame and NC State. Rivals ranks the Lexington, Ohio, native as the No. 96 overall prospect in the 2019 class.

Stover took a visit to Ohio State on April 20. He must have liked what he saw. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound edge-rusher was also considering Oklahoma, Michigan Notre Dame and Penn State, just to name a few. With Stover’s commitment -- as well as five-star WR Garrett Wilson -- Ohio State now ranks eighth in 247 Sports rankings of the top recruiting classes, and second in the Big Ten behind Michigan.