Can Cade Stover Be A Fantasy Buried Treasure

Cade Stover was drafted with the 124th pick in the 4th round by the Houston Texans after five seasons with Ohio State. In his first season in 2019, he played linebacker and then converted to Tight End in 2020 but did not start or record any stats. In 2021, he appeared in every game but only held a rotational role, catching five passes for 76 yards (15.2 yards per reception) and no touchdowns.

He put up the majority of his numbers in years 4 and 5, with 77 receptions on 100 targets (77% catch rate) for 982 yards (12.8 yards per reception) and 10 touchdowns. Stover was clearly a productive pass catcher in his two full seasons. He lands on an explosive Texans team with a lot of mouths to feed, including Dalton Schultz, who has been a consistent and complete player since entering the league.

Last year, the Texans targeted the Tight End position around 18% of the time, which would be around 108 targets; Schultz is likely to take on 70-80 of those if he is healthy all season. With 38 targets left and Brevin Jordan to compete with Stover, he doesn’t track to be a big-time contributor in his first season, but as an old teammate of CJ Stroud, it stands to reason that they can create chemistry quickly and see him progress faster than typical.

If Schultz were to miss any time, Stover could be a valuable waiver wire addition in redraft. He is going in the middle of the third round of rookie drafts, which is fair value, but only if you don’t need an instant impact at TE. His startup ADP is the 225th player off the board, which is fine because most players in the late teen rounds are lottery picks anyway.

Our consensus projections for Stover in the 2024 season are 15 receptions, 147 yards, and 1 touchdown.

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