Cade Stover explains the value of the tight end position on an offense

The Peach Bowl between Ohio State and Georgia, along with being a College Football Playoff semifinal, is also going to be one of the better displays of tight end play this season. Between Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington for the Bulldogs and Cade Stover for the Buckeyes, there’s no shortage of elite talent and production.

As the teams barrel toward each other, Stover explained just how valuable a tight end can be, and it starts with versatility. A tight end that can both block and run routes effectively opens up what an offense can do, Stover said.

“It’s a very key piece to a good offense,” Stover said. “If you’ve got a guy — I mean, it’s both, your offensive lineman and your receiver. If you’ve got a guy that can do both, you can really add elements to your offense that you wouldn’t if you had a guy who couldn’t do that.”

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but both teams are highly effective both running the ball (Georgia ranks 17th nationally in rushing offense, Ohio State 28th) and passing (19th and 14th, respectively).

The advantage tight ends provide is the ability to move between passing and running sets without wholesale substitutions. Both Ohio State and Georgia can go from a heavy run look with two tight ends down on the end of the line of scrimmage on one snap to a set where a tight end is split out wide on the next.

And along with being versatile threats in the run and pass game, tight ends often become favorite targets of their quarterbacks on key downs, too.

“So I think overall having the tight end position really coming back to life has a lot to do with that and people realizing you can do a lot with that position,” Stover said.