LA Rams meet with 17th prospect ST standout Eli Stove

Phase II – Auburn’s Eli Stove

Now the Rams hope to build upon last year’s late-season improvements with additional help for both the return and coverage units. One such player is Auburn’s speedy wide receiver Eli Stove. Now, I say wide receiver, but he is truly a swiss army knife of versatility. He is a 6-foot-0 191-pound athletic football player who can be used as a receiver, a rusher, a kick returner, a punt returner, and in coverage duties as a gunner.

If you need further explanation, the ‘gunner’ refers to either of the two players who race down the sidelines after the punt or kickoff and converge on the returner as the ball arrives to ensure an instant tackle. While his statistics over four seasons with Auburn will not jump off the page at you, Eli Stove‘s speed certainly will. He is rather speedy.  Fast comes to mind. As in a 4.26-second 40-yard dash time fast.

He played in 36 games over five NCAA seasons. During that time, he caught 136 passes for 1,186 yards and six touchdowns. He also rushed 55 times for 554 yards and four touchdowns. In his final season, he was also used as both a kick returner – three times for 93 yards- and as a punt returner – four times for 30 yards. And finally, he was used in coverage units where his blazing speed made him a very dangerous player.

In a very deep receiver class, Stove may not hear his name called until late on Day Three of the draft, if at all. But he would certainly be a valuable player on the LA Rams besieged special teams unit.