Few people have improved their stock this preseason than the Houston Texans' own, Cade Stover. Stover, the fourth-round pick out of Ohio State, was seen by many people as a blocking tight end who may end up as the third tight end on the team. A realistic and fair goal for the rookie to achieve. Yet, after two preseason games, and weeks of practice, it seems expectations may be rising for the youngster.
By no means should anyone leap to the conclusion that Dalton Schultz is getting traded, as that's highly unlikely, but what is likely is Stover earning a spot on the roster right next to Schultz. While Texans' tight end Brevin Jordan is safely penciled in as the number two tight end option currently, it should be emphasized he's penciled in for a reason.
You can erase a pencil mark pretty easily. Jordan's a solid tight end in his own right and truthfully, the team has a pretty good collection of players at the position, but we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that out of all of them, it's Stover who's constantly on the lips of everyone during training camp and preseason.
He's not setting the world on fire by any means. He's only putting up a PFF score of 60.9 so far this preseason, and while PFF isn't the end-all-be-all of player evaluation, they do a good job of at least setting the discussion. Stover is far from becoming Travis Kelce or Rob Gronkowski. He is, however, closer to becoming a genuine option to start for an NFL team.
He's not there yet. He's got to get better at running routes, and remembering his blocking assignments, but considering everyone passed on him at least three times, that's not bad. He's getting better each week. With the high turnover of the NFL and its players, making it to the end of your rookie contract is sometimes luck.
Turning yourself into a guy who deserves a second contract is hard to do, even for a first-rounder. Let alone for a fourth. So while Stover hasn't blown the doors off of any hinges just yet, to see him raising expectations through performance, is an awesome sight. Hopefully, he continues to raise his floor, making it so his tenure with the Houston Texans is a long one.