Dallas Goedert’s Staying Should Still Leave Room to Evaluate Eli Stowers

Dallas Goedert staying with the Eagles should still leave a defined playing-time opportunity for Eli Stowers. The useful choice is to preserve Goedert's competitive and teaching role while directing a meaningful share of the depth tight-end work toward evaluating Stowers.

The Birds 365 discussion made the case for that approach: keeping an established tight end and learning about a younger one can fit within the same plan. The Eagles should build a role that serves both purposes.

The Eagles' active roster lists Goedert, Stowers, Grant Calcaterra and Johnny Mundt. The team also announced Stowers' activation from injured reserve on October 26. With those options at the position, the staff can consider how to distribute the work beyond Goedert.

Start with the depth tight-end work

The practical proposal begins below Goedert on the depth chart. Before turning this into a choice between the veteran and Stowers, the staff should examine which assignments going to the other tight ends could become a useful test for Stowers.

The type and consistency of that work would matter as much as its volume. A planned role could test whether Stowers can contribute to an offensive sequence, rather than simply complete an isolated assignment. The staff could then decide which responsibilities to keep, correct or expand.

For example, the Eagles could build an evaluation around whether Stowers can execute a particular blocking responsibility, recognize the adjustment required by a defensive look and finish a route where the quarterback expects him. Those tests would give the coaches specific work to review before assigning him more responsibility.

The staff should also distinguish between protecting a young player from an assignment he cannot execute and never allowing him to demonstrate progress. If a responsibility is beyond him, the next step should be specific teaching and another evaluation opportunity when appropriate. An undefined wait would leave the same question unanswered.

Goedert can give the evaluation structure

There is value in keeping an experienced player involved while testing another player at the position. Goedert's proposed role would preserve a competitive standard and provide a reference point for the details the staff is asking Stowers to learn.

That does not require pretending the two players are interchangeable. A veteran can handle demanding work while a younger player receives a narrower assignment that expands as he earns trust. The staff can evaluate execution without making every mistake a referendum on whether the entire plan should be abandoned.

The teaching role also should connect to what happens on the field. Explaining an assignment gives a player information; executing it against a defense reveals whether that information has translated. A useful process would link preparation, game work and the correction that follows.

For Goedert, the proposal preserves a real football role rather than reducing him to a sideline tutor. For Stowers, it creates a chance to apply the coaching he receives. The Eagles could pursue both aims without announcing an automatic succession plan or assuming the younger player will become the long-term answer.

Give Stowers a question the staff can answer

An evaluation period should produce more than a list of appearances. The Eagles should be able to identify which responsibilities Stowers can handle reliably, where he requires help and what that means for the position going forward.

That calls for some continuity in his assignments. If each opportunity comes in an unrelated situation, it becomes harder to separate an unfamiliar task from a recurring problem. Repeated work in a defined role would give the staff a fairer basis for deciding whether to expand it.

There is a competitive limit to this proposal. Playing Stowers would still involve asking him to perform a job the offense requires. The purpose is to learn whether he can meet that standard, with coaching and a reasonable opportunity to improve. It is not to guarantee him snaps regardless of preparation or execution.

The next useful signal would be an intentional role behind or alongside Goedert, followed by evidence that the staff is willing to revisit it. Watch which depth assignments Stowers receives, whether they recur and whether his responsibilities grow. That would turn a discussion about his potential into a concrete personnel decision.

YouTube videoWatch on YouTube ↗