Fantasy Football Outlook: Eli Stowers, Malachi Fields, Kaelon Black

Let’s dive into Andrew Erickson’s fantasy football outlook for some of the dynasty rookies drafted Day 2. Here is our fantasy football outlook for: Eli Stowers, Malachi Fields, Kaelon Black. And here are all of Erickson’s Day 2 fantasy football winners & losers.

Fantasy Football Outlook: Eli Stowers, Malachi Fields, Kaelon Black

Eli Stowers (TE – PHI)

Will the Eagles’ real slot WR please stand up?

A lot to unpack here as the Eagles continue to revamp their receiving corps in preparation for an A.J. Brown departure to the Patriots (my analysis is under this presumption of AJB WR1 szn in New England).

I didn’t touch on Makai Lemon‘s landing spot in my winners and losers from Night 1, as I didn’t feel strongly enough in either direction to have him featured.

Now adding Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers to the conversation makes things interesting. Especially with him in the same rookie tier as Kenyon Sadiq, who did not land favorably with the New York Jets in Round 1.

Eli Stowers TE1 in rookie ranks!? ???? @DBro_FFB @Between_SethFF @AndrewErickson_ pic.twitter.com/1Jv5MAWsnv

— FantasyPros (@FantasyPros) April 25, 2026

The Eagles re-signed Grant Calcaterra and Johnny Mundt in free agency. Dallas Goedert eventually signed a one-year $7 million contract extension with Philadelphia. But DG could be gone in 2027, along with some of these other TEs. And the fact that all of these guys are blockers suggests to me that Philly might be one of the teams that views Stowers as a big receiver (and potentially a 1-for-1 replacement for Brown’s big-bodied departure and play style).

Both DeVonta Smith and Makai Lemon are sub 192 pounds (sub 30th percentile). Stowers is 240 pounds.

The question remains how much Stowers will actually play in comparison to Lemon. Is Lemon coming off the field in 3 WR sets as the main slot? Or is he getting pushed out wide? Or is Stowers the primary big slot option? Keep in mind, new OC Sean Mannion is coming from the Packers, who notoriously used WR rotations and limited their slot WRs (see frustrating Jayden Reed snap shares).

For 2026, the path to playing time will be much easier for Lemon than for Stowers, partially due to the presence of Dallas Goedert. But as soon as 2027, we could see Stowers fully take over as TE1 in Philly. I think Stowers’ addition does make me like the Lemon selection less as well, just because I see an overlap with some of the slot usage. Not that Lemon can’t play out wide, just think he’s better inside.

Stowers and Lemon were second/fourth in PFF receiving grade from the slot in 2025.

Considering their prices in dynasty rookie drafts (and the fact that Stowers has TE eligibility), I like my odds waiting on him at the back of rookie drafts, hoping he is the one who carves out the big “WR” slot role in the Eagles offense. And if that TE-eligibility sticks? Cooking with gas.

Malachi Fields (WR – NYG)

There were concerns about how far Malachi Fields would fall after posting a poor 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine. He was taken 74th overall in the third round by the Giants. He provides another big-bodied target and downfield weapon for Jaxson Dart (who is very capable of pushing the ball downfield). And given the injury to Malik Nabers, Fields could provide an immediate impact early in the 2026 season. He should see plenty of looks from Dart during training camp while Nabers rehabs. He will compete for targets with Darnell Mooney and Darius Slayton.

Kaelon Black (RB – SF)

Our only RB was selected on Day 2. Woof. But give credit where credit is due. The NFL had a lot of interest in Black (a ton of 30 visits) despite his lack of a combine appearance. The sheer amount of visits was probably because the NFL screwed up by NOT inviting him despite playing for the National Champion Indiana Hoosiers.

He is coming off by far his best season (over 1,000 rushing yards, 4th in SIS’s boom% and positive% run rates).

That being said…don’t go vaulting up Black too high up rookie draft boards. As I’ve outlined in my pre-draft rookie RB value articles, Round 3 and 4 RBs project fairly similarly, even though they take place on two different days.

I’m not convinced Black is a superior player to the 49ers’ second-year RB, Jordan James, who projects as the RB2 behind Christian McCaffery this year. All things being equal, I’d rather have James (just turned 22 years old in March), even if he was a 2025th 5th-round pick.

Black is 24.5 years old and played in college for six seasons (suffered a serious knee injury early in his career). His career dominator rating is below 10%. College target share is below 5% (caught five passes last season). Also split time with Roman Hemby in 2025 (who I liked more pre-draft). Hemby was the team’s leading rusher in 2025.

Black just looks like RB depth the 49ers felt that they needed to blow a third-round pick on (wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done this).