Former Vanderbilt football tight end Eli Stowers was on the cusp of being selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Stowers became emotional, as many draftees do. But first, he faced a quiz.
Before Stowers was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles at 54th overall in the second round on April 24, Eagles executive vice president Howie Roseman had a couple questions.
Vanderbilt football’s X account posted the interaction, with Roseman calling Stowers to tell him the news, first asking if Stowers could name the Eagles’ history of tight end selections in the second round.
“What’s going on man, it’s Howie Roseman from the Eagles,” Roseman started. “We’ve got a pretty good history of selecting tight ends in the second round. Can you name any of them?”
“Yeah, the one you’ve got there right now (Dallas Goedert),” Stowers replied.
“The one we’ve got right here is a heck of a player. You’ve (also) got Zach Ertz in the second round. How about we pick you right here and add you to that legacy?” Roseman said.
“Oh, thank you sir. Thank you, for real,” Stowers said, becoming emotional as the phone was handed to Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.
Stowers, a 6-foot-3¾, 239-pound athlete, was one of the top receiving tight ends in college football over the last three years, spending the last two at Vanderbilt. In 2025, he won the Mackey Award for the nation’s top tight end and was a consensus All-American and All-SEC selection.
His best season came in 2025 when he played in 12 games and caught 62 passes for 769 yards and four touchdowns. In his career, including one year at New Mexico State, he has 146 catches for 1,773 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
He also contributes to The Tennessean’s high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
