Who Should I Start? Cade Stover or Mason Taylor

Tuesday, January 14, 4:42 PM

Houston Texans rookie tight end Cade Stover (collarbone) suffered a broken collarbone in the wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers last Saturday and will require season-ending surgery. The Texans officially placed Stover on Injured Reserve on Tuesday. The 24-year-old first-year player caught all four of his targets for 28 yards in the 32-12 win over the Bolts and played 36 offensive snaps. Stover was mostly a blocker for the Texans in his first year in the NFL and took a back seat pass-catching-wise to starter Dalton Schultz, as he had only 15 catches for 133 yards and one touchdown on 22 targets over 15 regular-season games. If Teagan Quitoriano (calf) isn't activated from IR to play this Saturday in the Divisional Round against the hosting Kansas City Chiefs, Irv Smith Jr. would operate as the primary backup to Schultz.

Monday, June 9, 12:22 PM

The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt reports that New York Jets rookie second-round tight end Mason Taylor is starting to make waves during offseason workouts and looks like the tight end most ready to make an impact in the passing game for the Jets. However, if he's going to be on the field more than the team's other TEs, Rosenblatt thinks he needs to show more as a blocker. "I think he's been doing an outstanding job," head coach Aaron Glenn said. "It's not just the pass-catching that's what you guys see. But it's the blocking that really gets me going." The 21-year-old was a three-year starter in the SEC and could make an immediate impact for the Jets and fantasy managers as a starter sooner than later in his rookie season. Taylor has a real opportunity to see significant targets behind receiver Garrett Wilson, although New York's offense could lean on the ground game.