Whatever happens at the tight end position for the Baltimore Ravens in 2026, the important thing to remember is that the starter, Mark Andrews, will turn 31 years old in the 1st week of the regular season. Which means he isn’t really the franchise’s long-term solution.
It’s also important to remember that the Ravens have thrived in recent years using 2 tight ends. So, it stands to reason that adding a tight end early in the 2026 NFL draft might be a pretty useful move.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has the Ravens doing exactly that in his latest mock draft, where he predicts that 6-foot-4, 239-pound Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers will go to Baltimore in the 2nd round (No. 45 overall).
“Isaiah Likely is now with the Giants, and though Mark Andrews is back on a new deal, he is turning 31 in early September,” Kiper wrote on Wednesday. “Stowers caught 146 passes over the past three years, including 11 touchdowns. And he piled up 769 yards last season.”
Eli Stowers Compared to NFL All-Pro Tight End
Stowers wowed at the NFL scouting combine with his performance, running the 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds to go with an 11-foot, 2-inch broad jump, along with a stunning performance in the vertical leap of 45.5 inches.
“Oh my Lord,” ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote on his official X acount on February 27. “Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers. 45.5-inch vertical jump. Tied with Cameron Wake for the third-highest vert in the Combine (since 1999).”
Stowers is a fringe 1st-round prospect, although the Ravens appear locked in to drafting an interior offensive lineman in that spot after 2-time NFL MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson struggled with injuries in 2025 — thanks in large part to a porous offensive line.
Stowers has drawn comparisons from everyone to NFL All-Pro wide receivers Mike Evans and D.K. Metcalf to NFL All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers.
“In terms of size and speed, the NFL tight end that Stowers most closely matches is the Las Vegas Raiders‘ Brock Bowers, a 2024 first-round pick who has set tight end records and made the Pro Bowl in each of his two pro seasons,” Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman wrote. “Bowers is 6-4, 235 pounds, and ran a 4.55 40, and the parallels come from someone who worked with both of them.”
Eli Stowers Popular 2nd Round Target for Ravens
Kiper isn’t the only 1 targeting the Ravens for Stowers — NFL.com’s Chad Reuter also predicts Stowers will land there as well.
Stowers was a 4-star dual-threat quarterback out of Guyer High in Denton, Texas, and played 2 seasons as a backup at Texas A&M in 2021 and 2022 before transferring to New Mexico State for one season in 2023, where he began to play both quarterback and tight end.
He transferred to Vanderbilt in 2024 as a full-time tight end, where he’s been a 2-time All-SEC pick and in 2025 was named a unanimous All-American and won the Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end with 62 receptions for 769 yards and 4 touchdowns.
In 2 seasons at Vanderbilt, Stowers had 111 receptions for 1,407 yards and 9 touchdowns.
“Offers a reliable pair of hands, with just two career drops,” Fantasy Pros’ Matthew Jones wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “Natural runner with a dual-threat quarterback background, and can make defenders miss in space; yards after the catch account for over half of his career total.”
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