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Dalton Schultz hopes to put a down season behind him as he enters Year 3 with the Houston Texans, but he also knows he’ll need to impress if he plans on being back in 2026.
So far through nearly two weeks of training camp, the veteran tight end has made some plays in the passing attack. He’s finding a rhythm in Nick Caley’s system while seemingly stepping up more as a blocker on run plays.
But the star of the tight end room through 10 practices has been Cade Stover. C.J. Stroud used to toss him passes in Columbus when the two were teammates at Ohio State. One can tell there’s a comfort level working together, but Stover also looks more polished and refined entering his second season with the organization.
“He’s grown a lot. Strength, speed, size, knowledge of the game, he looks way more comfortable,” Schultz said Saturday. “It’s fun having him in the room because he’s a farm boy, backcountry loves to get down and dirty. But, at the same time, you can see that he’s really smart and he’s got knowledge for the game. Especially being on the defensive side of the ball for so long, he’s got that knowledge of the other side too.”
Drafted in the fourth round, Stover was still trying to figure out how to play tight end last season. After being recruited to Ohio State as a linebacker, the program transitioned him to the offensive side after his sophomore season. That led to a promising run with Stroud toward the College Football Playoff in 2023.
One year after finding a role on special teams and as the team’s H-back, Stover is settling in as a do-it-all tight end. When the team runs 12-personnel (two tight end sets), he’s been paired with the first-team offense as the in-line blocker. On 11-personnel looks, Stover has begun to split reps with Schultz for starting reps at tight end.
Texans general manager Nick Caserio mentioned ahead of training camp that Stover was the most improved player from the offseason. Even in a small sample size without facing off against opposing competition, Schultz has noticed the same things as Caserio.
“He doesn’t talk about it a ton, but I think he’s smarter than he gives himself credit for,” Schultz said. “That makes it really fun, being a guy going into year eight, I can have some conversations with him that some young guys in his position, I wouldn’t be able to.”
The Texans return to practice at the Greenbrier on Monday before taking on the Minnesota Vikings at US Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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