Raiders TE Brock Bowers earns excessive honor

The Las Vegas Raiders endured a dismal 2024 season, however their rookie tight finish Brock Bowers was a constant shiny spot. 

Bowers, the thirteenth total decide within the 2024 NFL Draft, made historical past final season, catching 112 passes for 1,194 yards — each league data for a decent finish. Bowers’ productivity has not gone unnoticed, as ESPN on Friday ranked him because the NFL’s prime tight finish.

NFL executives, coaches and scouts weighed in on the TE rating, which put San Francisco’s George Kittle at No. 2 and Detroit’s Sam LaPorta at No. 3. 

“Nice individual, onerous employee, instinctive, nice arms, matchup downside as a result of his velocity and athleticism with elite [run after catch] capacity,” an NFC govt stated about Bowers, per ESPN.

“Certain, the Raiders wanted a quarterback within the worst manner,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote, “however there is no manner they remorse the collection of Bowers, who met expectations, then smashed them.”

Bowers is a particularly versatile participant who can be utilized as an inline tight finish and even as a large receiver within the slot or on the surface. This versatility permits the Raiders to deploy him in numerous packages, with many performs designed to get him the ball in house. 

Due to his elite arms, yards-after-catch capacity and route-running experience, Bowers can dominate most defenders.

The Raiders completed 4-13 final season, however they’ve a lot to stay up for in 2025. The workforce had an aggressive offseason, hiring a brand new head coach (Pete Carroll), buying and selling for a brand new beginning QB (Geno Smith) and drafting a Heisman Trophy runner-up within the first spherical (RB Ashton Jeanty).

With this new trio, the Raiders are anticipated to take a giant leap, and their 22-year-old tight finish must be on the forefront of this development.