The Recap: Everything we learned from Lettermen Row Tight Ends Week

SpencerHolbrook

Cade Stover by Matt Parker -- Lettermen Row — Cade Stover is a versatile offensive weapon for Ohio State. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

The summer offseason is in full swing, and Lettermen Row is trying to survive it with our annual Position Week breakdowns. By the time all nine units and coaching staff at Ohio State have been covered, training camp and media days will nearly have arrived, and the return of football in the Horseshoe will be just around the corner. We’re continuing our positional weeks with the second group up: the Buckeyes tight ends.

COLUMBUS — Ohio State tight ends coach Keenan Bailey was already lamenting the end of spring practice 10 days before it came to a close.

The first-year position coach for the Buckeyes and long-time assistant in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center was having so much fun during spring practice, he wanted to just keep working with his tight ends.

Now that time with players has been cut back even more this summer, Bailey is just trying to make the most of every minute he has to help his position group grow. He isn’t taking any of it for granted in his first season as a full-time college football assistant coach.

“It’s a riot,” Bailey said with a huge smile Tuesday during a media session. “The highlight of my day is however many minutes I can get with my guys, per NCAA,” Bailey said. “Whether it’s an eight-minute [individual drills] period, those are the best eight minutes of my day.”

Lettermen Row is recapping everything that was written, talked about and learned from a busy Tight Ends Week, as we finish up the deep dive on the Buckeyes blockers and receivers wrapped in one before moving on to next week’s position and dive into Running Backs Week.

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Included are previews of some of the content from Tight Ends Week, as well as other must-knows for the important tight end position for the Buckeyes.

Projected depth chart

Projected starters: Cade Stover, Joe Royer

There are no questions regarding who the leader of the Ohio State tight ends is. That didn’t change in the last two months. Cade Stover is back as the top tight end on the roster — and he’ll likely be a two-time captain. Stover will be an invaluable piece of the passing game for the starting quarterback and a key factor in the running game. As much as the Buckeyes like to use two tight ends at a time, Joe Royer seems to be emerging from the depth chart after a strong spring camp period. Royer took over as the top tight end once Stover left the Peach Bowl loss, and he performed well. That spring-boarded him to a larger role in the offense this spring. Expect Stover and Royer to be the difference-makers at tight end in the fall.

If Stover and Royer are the top two, they won’t be the only two tight ends who end up earning playing time for the Buckeyes. The room is simply too talented to only have two of the tight ends find time on the field.

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Why freshmanJelani Thurman deserves early playing time for Buckeyes

From the Lettermen Row story: How Jelani Thurman can earn snaps, crack lineup early in Buckeyes career

Thurman stood out because of his size and ability to catch the ball. But the Buckeyes want — and need — their tight ends to be wide receivers and offensive tackles at the same time. They can’t just catch the ball. Tight ends must be able to add another blocker to the end of the offensive line whenever needed.

Thurman has the summer ahead of him to build on the strides he made in the blocking department this spring. If he does that, he’ll continue to claw his way up the depth chart early in his Ohio State career.

“He had a couple a couple of blocks towards the end of spring that the whole unit got really fired up about,” Bailey said about Thurman. “But still it’s every play, ‘Okay, what do I have to do? How do I have to do it?’”

As impressive as he was for Ohio State this spring, Thurman’s path to meaningful playing time is still quite murky and uncertain. The Buckeyes have fifth-year senior leader Cade Stover returning for another year after a productive 2022 campaign. They have fourth-year role players Gee Scott Jr. and Joe Royer back, as well. They should be in the mix.

But so should Jelani Thurman. He earned the right to be, at least, in the conversation ahead of a pivotal summer. He has his first impressions during spring — and all of the progress made after the first few practices — for it.