Overview
- Chad Reuter of NFL.com, in a Friday mock draft, projected the Patriots to select Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers with the 31st pick.
- The Patriots’ tight end group shifted this offseason with Austin Hooper leaving in free agency and Julian Hill arriving, which heightens the need for a receiving threat alongside Hunter Henry.
- Reuter casts Stowers as a first-round caliber athlete and a clean fit as a downfield target in New England’s offense.
- Stowers logged 769 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns last season at Vanderbilt, earned All-American honors, and drew high marks from Pro Football Focus, which rates him its No. 2 tight end and No. 53 overall prospect.
- Other evaluators place him lower, with The Athletic’s Dane Brugler ranking him 63rd overall, and some analysts suggest New England could trade back into the early second round to target a tight end before the April 23–25 draft in Pittsburgh.