NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The preseason honors continue to roll in for Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers as he's been included in another award watch list.

Stowers has ended up on the John Mackey Award Watch List. The award is given annually to college football's best tight end.

This week alone, Stowers has also been added to the watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and the Biletnikoff Award. Stowers has also been named as a preseason first-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, The Sporting News, Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.

However, the upcoming season will be just Stowers' third season playing the tight end position.

The Denton, Texas, native started his collegiate career as a quarterback at Texas A&M and was a four-star prospect in the class of 2021. He entered the transfer portal in December 2022 and eventually wound up at New Mexico State. It was there that Stowers teamed up with quarterback Diego Pavia and ultimately switched to becoming a tight end.

Stowers caught 35 passes for 366 yards and two touchdowns in 2023 for New Mexico State before transferring to Vanderbilt.

In 2024, Stowers exploded onto the Southeastern Conference scene with 49 receptions for 638 yards and five touchdowns.

Heading into his third season at the tight end position and his second season with Vanderbilt, Stowers told the media earlier this week that he is still learning the position.

"I'm still learning pretty much every part of the position every single day," Stowers said. "Like you said, I've only been playing the position for like two years, maybe like a year and a half really, and so every single day just learning techniques, details in the route running game, details in the blocking game.

"I'm learning from my coaches, some of the people in my position group, like Cole [Spence]," Stowers continued. "He's been playing the position for a long time, so I learned a lot of stuff from him. Just any resources that I have. I watch a lot of film and kind of study some NFL guys, some other college guys that were really good in college, seeing what they did as well, so I'm just trying to soak up as much information as I can every single day."

Stowers will look to yet again be a top target for Pavia with just three weeks until the Commodores take the field for the first time in the 2025-2026 season against Charleston Southern on Aug. 30.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/sports/vanderbilt-tight-end-eli-stowers-still-learning-the-position-as-preseason-recognition-rolls-in/