Ranking the three hardest Ohio State tight end records to break

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.

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COLUMBUS — Ohio State tight end Cade Stover is on a mission after missing practically the entirety of Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Georgia last season.

“I just feel like there’s more for me to — as good of a year as the team had and everything, there’s more left,” Stover said this spring. “I felt uneasy with my own [feelings], I don’t know if I’d ever forgive myself leaving a place like this that I’ve put so much into, on a note like that.”

Rather than departing for the NFL, Stover decided to run it back with the Buckeyes in 2023.

He believes he can be “10 times better” than he was last year. His 36 receptions for 406 receiving yards in 2022 were the most by a Buckeyes tight end in 28 years.

That got Lettermen Row thinking: What Ohio State tight end receiving records can Stover break this season? Well, let’s look at that question from a different angle.

If Stover takes the leap he’s talking about, he’ll be in some rare Buckeyes territory. With that in mind, let’s evaluate the three hardest Ohio State tight end records to break: one career record, one season record and one single-game record (plus a bonus record that might not be touched again).

121 career receptions, 1,481 career receiving yards (John Frank in 1980-83)

John Frank was part of Ohio State’s All-Century Team, and for good reason. Frank piled up 121 receptions and 1,481 receiving yards in his Buckeyes career, the most of any Ohio State tight end. He saved his best for last, too. Following the departure of wide receiver Gary Williams, Frank stepped up as the Buckeyes’ top receiving option and delivered 45 catches, 10 of which came in a 24-21 loss at Michigan, where he recorded 123 receiving yards. Frank also posted nine career touchdown receptions. He wound up playing five years in the NFL, and winning two Super Bowls, while starting his medical degree at Ohio State.

Stover tracker: Stover would need 80 catches this season to match Frank. That’s almost certainly not happening, considering wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. had 77 grabs as a Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2022. But, remember, Stover didn’t have a catch until 2021 and started his Buckeyes career as a defensive end.

4 receiving touchdowns in a game (Bob Grimes in 1952)

Bob Grimes did something during the 1952 season that’s only been replicated by three other Ohio State players in the last 70 years: catch four touchdowns in a game. Grimes not only set the single-game Buckeyes tight end record with four scores against Washington State, but he also notched the most receiving yards (187) of any Ohio State player at the position in that game. As for the three other players — all wide receivers, by the way — to achieve Grimes’ touchdown feat, they are Noah Brown (2016 at Oklahoma), Dane Sanzenbacher (2010 vs. Eastern Michigan) and Terry Glenn (1995 at Pitt).

Stover tracker: Stover scored a pair of touchdowns in two different games last season: first against Wisconsin and then against Indiana. He’ll need to double that kind of performance to tie Grimes’ record. It’s possible but unlikely given the wide receiver talent at Ohio State this season.

7 touchdowns in a season (Rickey Dudley in 1995, Jake Stoneburner in 2011)

For the most part, Ohio State tight ends haven’t put up prolific numbers in the 21st century, but they have remained relevant in the red zone. Take Jake Stoneburner. He finished his Buckeyes career with 53 catches, but 13 of them went for touchdowns — the most of any Ohio State tight end all-time — including seven in the 2011 season. That year, Stoneburner reeled in 14 passes. So half of his receptions had reservations for six. His seven touchdowns as a junior tied Rickey Dudley for the most touchdown catches in a season by a Buckeyes tight end. Dudley also hit that mark amid his impressive 1995 campaign, during which he also logged the third-most receiving yards (575) by a Buckeyes tight end in single-season program history. Dudley started his athletics career at Ohio State as a basketball player for Randy Ayers but tried out for John Cooper’s football team ahead of the 1994 season. If Dudley had four years worth of production, he could very well have topped Frank’s career numbers.

Stover tracker: This is probably the most attainable record on this board. Stover caught five touchdowns last season. He might have even hit or eclipsed the seven-score mark if Ohio State reached the Big Ten Championship and he didn’t get knocked out of the CFP semifinal in the first quarter.

Bonus: 56.15% of team’s receiving production in a season (Billy Anders in 1966)

Yeah, this record isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Woody Hayes’ teams were known for their ground-and-pound attack, but the 1966 iteration of his Buckeyes liked to throw the ball around a bit, and Billy Anders was at the forefront of that effort. He’s Ohio State’s single-season receptions (55) and receiving yards (671) leader. A year removed from walking onto the team, he accounted for 56.14% of the Buckeyes’ receiving production. Imagine an Ohio State tight end doing that in this day and age.

Stover tracker: Stover’s 406 receiving yards in 2022 accounted for only 10.47% of Ohio State’s receiving production last season.