Eagles’ 3 sleeper prospects to target in 2026 NFL Draft

For better or worse, the Philadelphia Eagles have firmly established themselves as a team that builds out their roster through the NFL Draft.

Sure, they will still add free agents when it makes sense, both short-term stop gaps like Riq Woolen and Mekhi Becton and big-name options like Saquon Barkley on long-term contracts, but of the Eagles’ 22 Week 1 starters in 2025, 17 were either drafted by the team or signed with them as UDFAs out of college, in Reed Blankenship’s case.

As a result, the Eagles can’t just focus on getting star players in the first round, but have to identify players outside of the top-32 who can fill a role both in the short and long term.

Under Nick Sirianni, the Eagles have routinely drafted players like Moro Ojomo or Tyler Steen who didn’t play much as rookies only to see their workload grow in Year 2, 3, or beyond, and with nine selections on the book for this year’s draft, Roseman will have to find the kind of players built for that pipeline, especially at premium positions that cost too much to sign in free agency like wide receiver.

Fortunately, there are plenty of interesting players who, for one reason or another, are being devalued by talent evaluators less than three weeks away from the 2026 NFL Draft, including a tight end from Vanderbilt who has the potential to challenge Kenyon Saddiq for the top TE in this year’s class as star players like Travis Kelce begin to call it a career.

TE Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt

While the 2026 NFL Draft is widely considered a one tight end class, with Kenyon Siddiq lapping the rest of the field by a considerable margin, that doesn’t mean there isn’t talent to be found outside of Eugene, Oregon.

Case in point, Eli Stowers, the Texas A&M quarterback-turned-Vanderbilt tight end who brings a level of athleticism to the position that would instantly transform the Eagles’ offense for the post-Dallas Goedert era.

Standing 6-foot-4, 239 pounds with long arms and a pro-ready 4.51 40-yard dash, Stowers isn’t an old-school tight end. His blocking is a work in progress, he runs routes to all three levels of the field, and he can even be used on trick plays in a way many teams would use a slot receiver.

Following Diego Pavia to the Volunteer State after a successful season together at New Mexico State, Stowers was the Heisman Finalist’s favorite target in the Commodores’ offense, and it showed. Appearing in just 12 of the team’s 13 games, Stowers still led the team in receptions at 62, finishing out his All-American season with four touchdowns and 769 yards, good for a yards-per-reception average of 12.4.

Is Stowers a complete product right out of the gates? No, but recall, neither was Goedert, who was also a star tight end who led his team in receptions and sat at the top of opposing scouting reports. If Goedert was able to learn to block in the NFL after being used almost exclusively as a high-volume receiver in South Dakota, why can’t Stowers learn that aspect of the game as he runs post routes out of the slot, picks up yards on supersized screens, and even throws the occasional Trey Burton special off of a jet sweep?

WR Chris Brazzel II, Tennessee

If Chris Brazzel II had the same production at any other SEC team in 2025, including with Pavial and Stowers at Vanderbilt, he likely would be getting very serious first-round consideration from fans, pundits, and talent evaluators alike, less than a month away from the 2026 NFL Draft.

Standing 6-foot-4, 198 pounds, Brazzell II checks all of the boxes teams look for in a modern-day outside wide receiver. He has long arms, doesn’t drop the ball often, and most importantly of all, has enough speed to challenge any cornerback the NFL has to offer; a big question about his game before he answered it with a 4.37 40-time at the 2026 NFL Combine.

So what’s the problem? Brazzel II had his most productive season in college as a member of the Tennessee Volunteers.

Taking the field for a Josh Heupel team that famously runs a very idiosyncratic offense, Brazzel II was an option route fiend in 2025, running full speed down the field and either taking it to the post or slanting to the other side of the field, depending on what coverage the opposing team decided to call. While this strategy has produced big numbers for quarterbacks like Joey Aguilar, it hasn’t exactly produced NFL stars, with Jalin Hyatt never quite figuring it all out in New York after being a 1,000-plus yard receiver in Knoxville.

Fortunately, Brazzell II did put up over 700 yards during his sophomore season at Tulane, so he has proved he can produce in offenses other than Tennessee’s, which, when coupled with his size and speed, make him an interesting option on Day 2 if teams like what he brings to the interview table during the pre-draft process.

QB Garrett Nussmeier – LSU

When was the last time the Eagles used a mid-round pick on a quarterback when they already had a homegrown signal-caller on a nine-figure contract in the middle of his prime?

Well, that would be in 2020, when Howie Roseman took Jalen Hurts in the second round out of Oklahoma despite having just paid Carson Wentz to the tune of a four-year, $128 million contract extension.

That decision turned out pretty good, didn’t it?

Now granted, Nussmeier isn’t the same caliber player Hurts was coming out of Oklahoma now, as he by every metric had a down year versus his 2024 showing, but there was a time in the not too distant past when the Louisianna native, not Fernando Mendoza, was getting first overall pick hype over other what if prospects like Dante Moore, LaNorris Sellers, and Drew Allar.

The son of the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator, who was handpicked by Kellen Moore after his run with the same title as a member of the Eagles, Nussmeier played through injuries in 2025 that zapped his athleticism and effectiveness.

Nussmeier went from throwing for 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns while leading the SEC in attempts and completions to being unable to even reach the 2,000-yard mark over nine games of action, finishing out the season with 1,927 yards on 194 completions for 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. Nussmeier’s Tigers went from 9-4 to 7-6 and forced the program to go all-in on Lane Kiffin in order to get things back on track.

Fortunately, Nussmeier flashed his former glory at the Senior Bowl and looked good at the combine as well as one of the few quarterbacks willing to sling it, leading some to believe his stock could continue to rise as teams do further work on his game. While he might be a bit rich to be selected where Hurts came off the board at 53rd overall, if Nussmeier is still on the board for the Eagles’ second third-round pick, he would be a very good replacement for Tanner McKee for the next four years at the very least.

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