It’s hard to call a rookie season anything but a disappointment if you miss the first six games, no one knows exactly why, and by the time you come back, your team’s season is pretty much over anyway.
That’s where the Philadelphia Eagles stand with tight end and 2026 2nd-round pick Eli Stowers, who appears on track to debut on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7.
It’s probably too little, too late, but the Eagles are looking for anything right now after four consecutive losses — and the loss of starting quarterback Jalen Hurts to a season-ending medical issue after blood clots were found in his lungs.
“It’s a blessing that it’s an opportunity that can arise for me,” Stowers told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Tim McManus. “I’ve been envisioning it, and being from Dallas, I know how much this rivalry means to people. So it’s going to be fun.”
“Eagles can add 3 players to the active roster today,” Eagles reporter Eliot Shorr-Parks wrote on his official X account on Monday. “I expect Landon Dickerson and Eli Stowers to be two of them. Potential options for the 3rd: Ertz, Keyshawn James-Newby, Jakorian Bennett. James-Newby has two more games (including tonight) where he can be elevated from PS.”
Truth of Eli Stowers’ Absence Seems Elusive
Stowers was placed on injured reserve on September 12 — one day before the start of the regular season. Why and how that happened was a mystery at the time, and it still is.
One of the prevailing storylines throughout training camp and the preseason was Stowers’ struggle to understand the offense and his role.
“The Eagles downgraded rookie TE Eli Stowers (hamstring) to out,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo wrote on his official X account on September 12. “He’d been listed as questionable. He was also placed on IR so he’s out the first four weeks. Stowers was telling reporters yesterday he was confident he’d play to being placed on IR with a quad injury added to the previously listed hamstring. The Eagles’ second-rounder’s debut will have to wait a bit.”
In late August, The Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski called Stowers “unplayable” and predicted he would be a healthy scratch to start the season. Putting Stowers on injured reserve with a fugazi injury issue would have protected their rookie in several ways.
Publicly, it means Stowers wouldn’t have to deal with everyone knowing how much he sucks. Privately, it protects his trade value if the Eagles want to unload him to another team at some point.
Eagles Lit Up for Drafting Stowers in 2nd Round
Bleacher Report’s Brent Solbeski handed the Eagles a “C” grade for taking Stowers with the No. 54 overall pick.
“The reigning John Mackey Award winner would have been rated higher throughout this process if he had contributed anything as an inline option,” Sobleski wrote in April. “To be clear, Stowers has experience working in-line, but he’s not much of a blocker and lacks the strength and technique to excel in that area at the next level … provides little to nothing as a blocker, functional strength is limiting, can improve route-running.”
Disappointing Eagles Rookie Could Finally Make NFL Debut Against Cowboys