NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The NCAA released the official Consensus All-America team on Friday, with Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers included in the group as one of 13 unanimous selections.
One of only three SEC players to achieve the feat this season, and the lone representative for the league on the offensive side of the ball, Stowers was recognized after being named first-team All-America tight end by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, Associated Press and The Sporting News in the last week. He’s the first Commodore to be a unanimous All-America selection since Zach Cunningham in 2016, and the program’s first offensive player to ever to be named a unanimous All-American.
Stowers also became the first member of the program the win the William V. Campbell Trophy®—given to the premier scholar-athlete in college football—and John Mackey Award, presented to the best tight end in the nation, this season.
The graduate student from Denton, Texas, led all players at the position nationally with 769 receiving yards and is currently second in that group with 62 catches this fall. In addition to pacing Vandy in both categories, he scored four touchdowns on the year while recording 38 receptions that resulted in a first down and 18 catches of 15 or more yards. He was named the John Mackey Award Tight End of the Week after posting career highs of 146 yards and two scores on seven receptions at No. 20/19 Texas, and in the Dores’ next outing Stowers finished with a career-best 12 catches for 122 yards in a victory over Auburn.
Not only does he share the lead among all tight ends in the country in 100-yard games, he became the first Commodore at the position to accomplish the feat in consecutive contests since the 1983 campaign.
Stowers and Vandy—currently 13th in the Associated Press rankings and 12th in the AFCA coaches’ poll—will wrap up the season against Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl. The Dec. 31 game can be seen on ESPN beginning at 11 a.m. CT.
