Auburn football: Eli Stove’s NFL dreams on hold for now

The Auburn football team had seven players enter their names into the 2021 NFL Draft, and when all was said and done six of the seven found new teams in the big leagues. Wide receivers Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz, linebacker K.J. Britt, and safety/linebacker Jamien Sherwood were all formally selected in the draft, while WR Eli Stove and safety Jordyn Peters both signed post-draft as free agents.

However, Eli Stove received unfortunate news yesterday according to AL.com’s Matt Zenitz. After signing with the Los Angeles Chargers as a free agent, Stove has been waived after not passing his physical due to a torn ACL. Zenitz reports that Stove has already undergone surgery.

Saturdays Down South reports that this is not the first time Stove has dealt with an ACL injury, citing his 2018 season when the WR played only three games due to the injury.

Stove played 52 games total in five seasons for the Auburn football team. Throughout those five seasons, he caught 136 passes for 1,186 yards and six touchdowns. He also had 55 rushing attempts for 554 yards and four touchdowns.

The wide receiver is the only one in Auburn history to have over 1,000 receiving yards and over 500 rushing yards.

Eli Stove was a 4-star recruit out of high school from Niceville, FL, and was ranked as the No. 20 wide receiver in the recruiting class of 2016. He had offers from schools such as Florida, Alabama, LSU, and Florida State, but ultimately chose the Tigers in May of 2015.

We at Fly War Eagle sincerely wish Eli Stove the best and we hope that he can work hard and get healthy in order to give it another go at next year’s draft.