EliStowers

Stowers is an ascending playmaker at tight end who lacks size but possesses extraordinary leaping ability, soft hands, and run-after-the-catch talent. A former four-star quarterback prospect who started his career at Texas A&M, he was a reserve there for two seasons before transferring to New Mexico State and switching to tight end. After a year in Las Cruces, he transferred to Vanderbilt, where he caught 111 passes for 1,407 yards and nine touchdowns over two seasons, winning the Mackey Award in 2025. Stowers is an excellent athlete with extraordinary leaping talent; a former high school state champion high jumper, he set the all-time NFL combine record (for any position) in the vertical jump (45.5 inches) while posting an all-time best among tight ends in the broad jump (11 feet, 3 inches). Lining up primarily in the slot (66 percent of the time in 2025, per PFF), he runs routes with long, powerful strides and gets down the field quickly, threatening the seams vertically. Stowers knows how to settle into the soft spot in the middle of the field and catches the ball cleanly to quickly make his move and avoid defenders. He brings good contact balance to pinball off defenders, rip through arm tackles, keep his feet moving, and gain yards after the catch. He wins footraces with linebackers and safeties and knows how to separate at his route break. He shows reliable hands (with a 4.1 percent career drop rate) and can snag off-target passes, twisting his body to see that the ball gets into his hands.

There are times when Stowers gets caught up and slowed down by tight coverage. He’ll need to refine his release at the next level. He has a tweener body type and may not be viewed as an every-down player right off the jump. He’s not very effective as a blocker, missing his targets in space, falling off his blocks, and failing to sustain when he’s the key blocker on a screen or misdirection play. He was inconsistent on contested catches in college, reeling in seven of 17 contested catch opportunities in 2025.