Diego Pavia appreciates return of, getting to play 'with a first rounder' in TE Eli Stowers

Rather than entering the 2025 NFL Draft, Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers elected to come back for a fifth college season and second in Music City. No one is happier that he chose to do so either than QB Diego Pavia.

Pavia spoke about Stowers’ return to Vandy while at SEC Media Days in Atlanta on Monday. That started with a joke thanking the program’s donors for helping to keep him with the Commodores.

“I mean, I’ll go here first. That means we have enough money to keep him,” Pavia laughed. “Nah, I’m just kidding…Our donors came through! I’m just kidding.”

Stowers, after previous stops at Texas A&M and New Mexico State, transferred to spend last season at Vanderbilt. He would go on to have a career-best season there with 49 receptions for 638 yards, averaging 49.5 per game and 13 per catch, and five touchdowns, which made him their receiving leader by far en route to being All-SEC First Team and a semifinalist for the Mackey Award.

Now, instead of having been a top-projected draft pick this past spring, Stowers is already receiving All-SEC and All-American recognitions in this preseason by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele. That projects him as one of the better players in the country this fall while he’s already mocked as a top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

A pro future is going to be there for Stowers in the NFL. For now, though, Pavia is glad to have his top target back with how productive he’s now been for him the past two seasons in both Las Cruces and in Nashville.

“I mean, Eli? He’s written his own journey, for real,” said Pavia. “Yeah, I mean, keeping Eli is one of the biggest pieces for me. Obviously, he was my safety blanket last year. We opened up the room and we got some receivers in the portal. But, as far as Eli? I mean, there’s nothing bad to say about that kid.

“When people see him work out and do his testing numbers? He’s going to jump a 43 vertical jump. He power cleans 365. He’s going to run a 4.44, you know – maybe low 4.5, high 4.4. He’s going to jump off the map. Even if he would have went this year, I believe he would have went first round just because of his testing numbers and his route running. He’s always open. It’s like crazy to feel, like, I’m playing with a first rounder, you know what I mean? People, like, our coaches make fun of us. Like, ‘Hey, Diego, did you make Eli or did Eli make you?’ and, I just don’t know what to say to that, you know.”