The Las Vegas Raiders endured a dismal 2024 season, however their rookie tight finish Brock Bowers was a constant vivid spot.
Bowers, the thirteenth general decide within the 2024 NFL Draft, made historical past final season, catching 112 passes for 1,194 yards — each league data for a good 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 particular person, laborious employee, instinctive, nice arms, matchup downside because of his pace and athleticism with elite [run after catch] skill,” an NFC government stated about Bowers, per ESPN.
“Positive, the Raiders wanted a quarterback within the worst approach,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote, “however there is no approach 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 skin. This versatility permits the Raiders to deploy him in varied packages, with many performs designed to get him the ball in area.
Due to his elite arms, yards-after-catch skill 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 an enormous leap, and their 22-year-old tight finish needs to be on the forefront of this development.
