Eli Stowers Analytical Draft Profile

Oct 18, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores tight end Eli Stowers (9) makes a catch against the Louisiana State Tigers during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Film Profile | Analytical Profile

Prospect Information

College: Vanderbilt
Height/Weight: 6'4"/239
Hands: 9 3/4"
Age: 23 (at the time of the 2026 season opener)

Important NFL Combine/Pro Day Numbers

40-Yard Dash: 4.51
Vertical Jump: 45.5"
Broad Jump: 11'3"
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
3-Cone: N/A

Model Overview

My Tight End Rookie Model evaluates prospects through the traits that historically translate best to fantasy production. The model weighs target earning, market-share production, route efficiency, alignment usage, after-catch ability, ball skills, blocking deployment, athletic translation, age, breakout timing, teammate competition, team context and historical outcome trends.

Stowers stands out as one of the stronger fantasy bets in the 2026 tight end class because he combines high-end athleticism with a real receiving role. He is not a traditional in-line volume blocker masquerading as a fantasy prospect. The model sees a movement-based receiving tight end with strong target earning, useful route efficiency and a deployment profile that is built for pass-game work.

The appeal with Stowers is that he checks several of the fantasy-friendly boxes at once. He was used heavily in the slot, earned targets at a strong rate and paired that with one of the better athletic profiles in the class. That gives him a clear path to NFL receiving utility if the landing spot leans into that role.

Model Derived Athletic Scores

BMI: 29.1
Speed Score: 115.5
Burst Score: 45.3
Agility Score: 0.68
Composite Athleticism Score: 1.74
Historical Athleticism Percentile: 98th

Understanding the Athleticism Score

The Composite Athleticism Score blends size-adjusted speed, burst, agility and model-derived translation when full testing is unavailable. The percentile compares Stowers to historical tight end prospects in the database.

Stowers projects as an elite athlete in this model. He may not have Kenyon Sadiq’s pure explosion score, but he still profiles as one of the most athletic tight ends in the class, which matters when it is paired with real receiving usage.

Receiving Efficiency Metrics

Yards per Route Run: 2.40
Yards per Target: 8.93
Touchdowns per Target: 5.5%
First Downs per Route: 0.127
Targets per Route: 0.269

Stowers' receiving efficiency profile is one of the best in the tight end group. His yards per route run and targets per route both point to a player who was doing more than just benefiting from scheme touches. He earned volume and turned it into useful per-route production.

Usage and Alignment

Average Depth of Target: 7.7
Catch Rate: 73.3%
Contested Catch Rate: 41.0%
Contested Target Rate: 20.5%
Drop Rate: 4.2%
Yards After Catch per Reception: 6.5
Inline Rate: 21.9%
Slot Rate: 69.9%
Wide Rate: 6.9%
Pass Block Rate: 2.4%

Stowers' role was clearly built around the passing game. Nearly 70% of his weighted alignment usage came from the slot, while his inline rate stayed low and his pass-blocking burden was minimal. That is the exact type of role fantasy managers want to see at tight end because it points to route volume and target opportunity rather than blocking-based deployment.

Production Snapshot

2025
Games: 13
Targets: 73
Receptions: 54
Receiving Yards: 659
Receiving Touchdowns: 4
Routes Run: 271
Yards per Game: 52.9
Touchdowns per Game: 0.32

Target Share: 21.9%
Reception Share: 23.0%
Yard Share: 21.5%
TD Share: 15.8%
Dominator Rating: 18.6%
Yards per Team Pass Attempt: 1.82

Stowers' production profile is much easier to buy than a typical tight end with detached usage. He was not just an athlete floating around the formation. He handled a meaningful share of Vanderbilt's passing offense and paired that with efficient receiving output.

Positive Indicators

Excellent target earning

Stowers' targets per route and market-share profile support a tight end who was actively earning involvement in the passing game.

Big-slot fantasy role

His slot-heavy deployment creates one of the cleaner paths to NFL receiving relevance in this tight end class.

Elite athletic profile

The model sees Stowers as one of the best athletes at the position in this class, which boosts both his ceiling and his pathway to useful receiving deployment.

Areas of Concern

Lower touchdown share than the top names

The TD profile is fine, but it is not carrying the projection the way it does for some of the stronger red-zone-oriented prospects.

Less inline projection

Stowers wins through receiving usage, not through traditional all-around tight end deployment. That can make his NFL value more landing-spot sensitive.

Older breakout profile than Sadiq

Stowers is still a strong prospect, but he does not bring the same age-adjusted upside profile as the youngest tight end bets in the class.

Historical Model Comps

Oronde Gadsden II
Jaheim Bell
Evan Engram
David Njoku
Terrance Ferguson

This comp cluster reflects receiving-oriented athletes and movement tight ends whose fantasy value is tied to slot usage, route volume and mismatch ability more than classic in-line tight end deployment.

Historical Fantasy Tier Outcomes

Elite TE: 45.9%
TE1: 3.2%
TE2: 9.9%
Bust: 41.1%

These outcomes are exclusive and sum to 100%. The tier breakdown is weighted toward how similar historical tight end profiles eventually translated, with some model influence kept in the mix. Stowers comes in as one of the better receiving bets in the class, but like most tight ends, his path still depends on role and landing spot.

Early Career Fantasy Outlook

Year 1: TE11—TE17
Year 2—3: TE8—TE14

Stowers projects as an early pass-game contributor with a real chance to develop into a fantasy starter if his NFL team preserves the detached receiving role that made him work in college.

Dynasty Translation

Stowers profiles as one of the better dynasty tight end bets in the 2026 class. He brings elite athleticism, strong target earning and one of the clearest receiving roles in the tight end group. That combination gives him real fantasy appeal at a position where usage often matters as much as talent.

The profile is still somewhat role-sensitive because Stowers is more of a receiving weapon than a traditional all-phase tight end, but that is also what makes him interesting for dynasty. If the landing spot preserves the pass-game role, he has the tools to outperform his draft-slot expectations.

This article originally appeared on The Huddle: Eli Stowers Dynasty Rookie Profile, Model Comps & Fantasy Outlook