Vanderbilt Commodores Breakout Star Has Been Nation's Top Tight End
The Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback has received a ton of praise, and rightfully so, but another player has seen a breakout season as well.
Pro Football Focus' Mitch Kaiser updated their list of the best players in the country at each position heading into Week 9 and Commodores star Eli Stowers is representing the Power Four at the tight end spot.
"Stowers is a big reason as to why Vanderbilt is now ranked. He has accounted for the majority of the Commodores’ passing offense this season with 463 receiving yards, more than double their next-highest pass catcher. His 308 yards after the catch rank second at the position," said Kaiser.
The Texas native has had quite the college career that has led to him even playing tight end.
Coming out of high school, Stowers was a four-star quarterback recruit who committed to the Texas A&M Aggies. He was the 12th-best at the position in the entire country. That put him ahead of current stars like Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe and Garrett Nussmeier.
The hype around him was real and people expected great things from him as a passer. He already held his big frame, but obviously hadn't put on as much weight as he has now. He spent two years riding the bench for those Aggies before transferring to the New Mexico State Aggies, where he met a few of his colleagues that he plays with in Nashville.
He joined the Aggies quarterback room with Diego Pavia, and while he did end up throwing eight passes last season, he made most of his impact elsewhere.
Offensive coordinator Jerry Krill figured out how to get the most out of Stowers.
The 6-foot-4 and 230-pound offensive weapon impacted every phase of offense. As a passer, he completed 4-of-8 passes for 99 yards and a score. On the ground, he ran the ball 28 times for 108 and two more touchdowns. Mostly, though, he was on the other end of Pavia's passes.
As a receiver, he caught 35 passes for 366 yards and another two touchdowns.
Following his coordinator, quarterback and more to Vanderbilt has led to him becoming even more productive as a receiving threat through the first seven games. He's thrown another touchdown pass and carried the ball a couple of times, but the emphasis has clearly become getting the ball to him through the air.
His emergence has a been a key element to the Commodores offensive power this season.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders