Eagles 2026 Most Important List: Eli Stowers

Eagles 2026 most important list: Eli Stowers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Over the next few weeks leading up to training camp, we’ll be counting down the top 25 most important Eagles for the 2026 season.

25. Eli Stowers

When Howie Roseman made the phone call the night the Eagles drafted Eli Stowers, he gave the young tight end a bit of a history lesson. He mentioned the Eagles’ track record of drafting tight ends in the second round.

The last two tight ends the Eagles drafted in the second round? Dallas Goedert in 2018 and Zach Ertz in 2013. Both ended up being great.

The Eagles are hoping Stowers continues that trend.

Stowers, 23, began his college career as a quarterback at Texas A&M but suffered a torn labrum in College Station and his arm was never the same after surgery. He lost a quarterback battle in 2023 and began his transition to becoming a tight end. He became a full-time tight end for the first time in 2024.

So there’s a bit of a learning curve in a couple of ways for Stowers. Not only is he still relatively new at the position, but now he’s making the jump from Vanderbilt to the NFL.

“I think for any player, regardless of position, there’s always an adjustment anytime you’re moving from the collegiate level up to the NFL,” Eagles tight ends coach Ryan Mahaffey said this spring. “What I’ve really enjoyed about Eli is he’s really smart. He has a willingness to go out there and accept any challenge that you give him. He’s done a really good job of just applying himself daily, getting to know his teammates, going out there and really digging into the details of the offense. And the thing that just stood out to me about Eli is very intelligent and that he’s got a thirst to be better. He’s attacking that daily.”

While Stowers is new to the position, his background at quarterback has helped him understand the tight end position through an unusual lens. That has helped.

And it’s not like Stowers didn’t have a great 2025 season. Last year, he caught 62 passes for 769 yards and 4 touchdowns for Vanderbilt and ended up being the second tight end selected in the draft at No. 54 overall after just Kenyon Sadiq, who was drafted in the first round (No. 16 overall).

“He has this ability to change direction and to accelerate and to catch the ball consistently,” head coach Nick Sirianni said this spring. “That’s unusual for that position. He has an unusual skillset at the tight end position with the matchups that he is going to be getting on safeties, linebackers. He’s fast, he’s quick, he can catch the ball well, and he’s still growing and learning in the position because there’s still some newness to him playing that position. I think that he shows power as far as his abilities to being able to block. Obviously, we don’t have pads on yet, so there’s some unknown, but you can feel some of the power when he’s hitting the bags and hitting the guy across from him in an individual setting. I think that you can see that he has that power and it’s very noticeable with his jumps, like his broad jump, his vertical jump.

“He has explosive power in his body and it’s just about being able to go through those reps of getting better blocking, but we think he has that in his body with that, but he hasn’t had to do it much and he’s relatively new to the position. So, really excited about him and I think he’s [an] extremely, extremely intelligent football player. You can see his quarterback background. You feel his quarterback background with some of the instincts that he has on the field and also how he is in the meeting room and how he picks things up. Extremely excited about him.”

So what will Stowers’ role be in 2026 as a rookie?

Well, the Eagles did bring back Dallas Goedert on a one-year, $7 million deal and he’s going to be there TE1 this season. They also added blocking tight end Johnny Mundt and have a few other players competing for roster spots. Stowers could contribute right away but likely only as a pass-catcher; his blocking needs work.

Over the last five drafts, 11 tight ends have been selected in the second round. The most productive among them in their rookie seasons was Sam LaPorta, who had 889 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023. Even with that one big season, those 11 tight ends averaged 29 catches, 292.2 yards and 2.7 touchdowns in their rookie seasons. 

The good news for Stowers is that the Eagles will likely run more 12 personnel (two tight ends) this season. The Birds were 12th in the NFL at 26.14% but might lean into that package more in 2026 with new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. If that’s the case, Stowers will have a chance to see the field more.