Eli Stowers has been on the move plenty in his college career — from Texas A&M to New Mexico State and now Vanderbilt. But entering the 2025 season, the 6-foot-4 tight end has finally found his footing in Nashville, where he’s been named to several preseason first-team All-American lists and is projected by many analysts as a potential first-round NFL Draft pick.
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If Vanderbilt is to make any noise is the ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference, Stowers will be a key reason why. And there’s plenty of reason to believe that the Commodores may be a sneaky team this season. They went 7-6 last season with a win in the Birmingham Bowl, even cracking into the top-25 polls a couple times. But more importantly, perhaps, was the fact that Vanderbilt snapped a streak of 10 straight losing seasons.
One of those wins was a 40-35 upset over No. 1 Alabama where Stowers caught six passes for a career-high 113 yards
“That was a full-on blessing from God Himself,” Stowers said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in June. “That was the biggest thing we had to focus our minds on. After a game like that, it’s real easy to fall into the hype and everything … but obviously we know what the Bible teaches about humility, and that’s what I was telling myself.”
Stowers finished the 2024 season with 49 catches for 638 yards and five touchdowns. Both the Associated Press and ESPN have him as a first-team preseason All-American, and he could potentially play his way into the top half of the NFL Draft’s first round if he adds on to his production for his last season.
But that humility has kept him grounded even though the spotlight on him has gotten brighter. Vandy On SI reported that he attends Avenue South Church in Nashville with a few of his teammates every Sunday and is a regular at an on-campus ministry. He also shared that while he has active social media accounts, he doesn’t have the apps on his phone. In fact, he hasn’t for years.
His girlfriend, Analena, runs his accounts and posts for him, often including faith-based messages.
“I haven’t had social media on my phone in probably over a year now,” Stowers told On SI. “I’d probably say it had more to do with my faith than it did distractions. I guess it kind of goes hand in hand. There’s a lot of stuff on social media that as a Christian you don’t need to be putting your eyes on and listening to. It’s just kind of for me to focus more on God.”
Quarterback Diego Pavia, who is also Stowers’ roommate, lauded his tight end for his steadfast approach to his faith.
“Jesus,” Pavia said of Stowers’ biggest strength when meeting with the media at SEC Media Day. “He’s really walking the path of Jesus Christ and that’s what really helps him. That’s what really helps him, he’s God-blessed.”
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The catalyst for Stowers’ deep faith came in high school, he said on the podcast. For much of his life, football came easy. In his own words, “things were kind of handed to me.” He got his first scholarship offer before he even played varsity football.
His upbringing was familiar — raised in the church, had a faith in God, but considered it to mostly be his parents’ faith. That changed when he blew out his knee his junior year while playing in the Texas high school state championship game. For the first time, he was facing adversity in the game of football.
“I was going through it. I was pretty much depressed after that, and I think that’s what kind of woke me up to the fact that I can’t put my worth in something that can be taken away,” he said on the podcast. “God sent His Son down to live the perfect life that we couldn’t live and to die on the cross and defeat death when He was raised from the dead. And that’s what I should be modeling my whole life around. That’s what I should do everything for — to get that Gospel out to whoever needs to hear it.”
That deeper faith has also guided him throughout his college football journey.
A highly touted recruit out of Denton, Texas, he had his pick of schools, ultimately choosing Texas A&M. But soon after arriving in College Station, things began to unravel. A quarterback in high school and entering college, he wasn’t able to throw like he was accustomed to. He eventually learned he had been playing with an undiagnosed shoulder injury.
“My whole world revolved around football,” he said on the podcast. “I think God, in a way, showed me that I can’t put my worth in anything above God because anything in this world can be taken away from you. The only thing that is eternal is what Jesus did for us on the cross.”
"I can't put anything above God … The only thing that's eternal is what Jesus did on the cross."
A brand new Sports Spectrum podcast with Vanderbilt tight end @eli_stowers3 is out now. pic.twitter.com/2W3dfYvUML
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) June 24, 2025
Stowers decided to transfer to New Mexico State, where he eventually switched positions to become a tight end. The decision to leave New Mexico State for Vanderbilt was a tough one, but he’s back in the SEC with a chance to show he’s one of the best players in the country and a platform to share the joy he has through his faith.
“I’m telling you from my own personal experience — and you can ask anybody — any true Christ-follower that knows Christ, it’s a different kind of joy and a different kind of peace that you can experience forever, no matter what the circumstance is,” he said on the podcast.
Vanderbilt opens the 2025 season against Charleston Southern on Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. ET.
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