Who is Eli Stowers? What to know about the Eagles’ second-round pick

PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles selected Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers with the 54th pick in the second round on Friday.

Stowers is a move tight end who has tremendous upside as a pass catcher. He has good size (6-3, 239 pounds) and is an elite athlete. At the NFL Combine, he ran a 4.51 40-yard dash, a 1.59 10-yard split and recorded a 45.5-inch vertical jump.

Stowers finished the 2025 season with 62 receptions for 729 yards and four touchdowns. He has great body control and made a handful of acrobatic catches.

Stowers played two seasons at Texas A&M as a quarterback from 2021-2022. He converted to tight end after transferring to New Mexico State in 2023 and turned into a premier prospect during his first season with Vanderbilt in 2024. He recorded 146 receptions for 1,773 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first three seasons as a tight end.

Stowers’ quarterback experience helps him at tight end because he understands how to beat coverages.

“My strengths are in my athleticism, being a matchup problem, because I have a rare ability in terms of athleticism and also size to be able to create some mismatches and then also being able to catch the ball,” Stowers said at the NFL Combine. “I’ve taken a lot of strides in my run blocking over the last two years. I think I’ve gotten a lot better, and I think I continue to get a lot better as well.”

Stowers just turned 23 years old. The rookie tight end has a high ceiling but needs to become a stronger blocker to reach his full potential. He could play in 12 personnel packages with starting tight end Dallas Goedert. The Eagles could move him all around the formation to create matchup problems next season.

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