Eagles Draft Vanderbilt Tight End Eli Stowers in Second Round

The Eagles kept building their passing game on Friday night, taking Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers with the No. 54 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. After opening the draft by selecting USC wide receiver Makai Lemon in the first round, Philadelphia doubled down on skill-position help and added a player built to create matchup problems rather than fit a conventional tight end mold.

Stowers arrives with the kind of production and athletic profile that explains why Philadelphia spent a second-round pick on him. The 6-foot-3, 239-pound pass catcher played five college seasons, starting at Texas A&M before spending one year at New Mexico State and finishing his final two seasons at Vanderbilt. He broke out in 2024 with 638 receiving yards and five touchdowns, then followed with 62 catches for 769 yards and four touchdowns in 2025. He also set tight end Combine records with an 11-foot-3 broad jump and a 45.5-inch vertical leap, and he capped his college career with first-team All-American honors and the Mackey Award.

The pick fit Philadelphia’s offseason priorities. The Eagles entered draft weekend needing help at wide receiver and tight end, and their first two selections addressed both spots. Lemon adds another perimeter target, while Stowers gives the offense a flexible weapon who can be used to stress linebackers, safeties and nickel defenders. That kind of versatility matters in an offense that is trying to widen the field and create cleaner passing windows.

The selection also reflected the Eagles’ willingness to trust traits and role projection over draft-night consensus. Stowers was the second tight end taken, behind Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq, and reaction around the pick was mixed, with some evaluators viewing him as a tight end-wide receiver hybrid and others questioning whether Philadelphia reached at No. 54. Still, the Eagles clearly saw more than a highlight reel. They saw a player whose size, burst and receiving output can fit a modern passing game that increasingly asks tight ends to function as mismatches, not just blockers.

Stowers was also the first Vanderbilt player selected in the 2026 draft, a milestone that underscored how far his stock climbed during his final college seasons. For Philadelphia, the message was even clearer: the Eagles spent premium capital on more receiving talent because they plan to keep the offense centered on explosive, versatile playmakers.