The Las Vegas Raiders landed one of the most exciting offensive pieces in the 2024 NFL Draft, when they picked former Georgia tight end Brock Bowers. He figures to be a major piece to their offensive attack, when he gets healthy. Unfortunately for the Raiders, he hasn’t practiced since last week due to a foot injury, according to Tashan Reed of The Athletic.
Las Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce said on Wednesday that he expects Bowers to play in Week 1. “Got a foot injury and we just want to protect him.”
Brock Bowers made his NFL debut during the Las Vegas Raiders’ preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Georgia product was targeted twice where he caught both passes for 25 yards during the 24-23 loss. One of which saw him make a catch in the flats out of the fullback position. While it was a small sample size, those within the Raiders organization have been able to see his abilities first-hand all offseason. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, they’re impressed with their new tight end.
“I just got back from the West Coast, stopped by the Raiders and talked to [head coach] Antonio Pierce. He said he’s, quote, different. This is a player they’re going to move all around the formation. He’s probably even better than they thought as a blocker, but they believe he’s great after the catch. So not only do they plan to get him the ball early and often, but they expect him to make people miss when he does.
“They’ve got Michael Mayer who they drafted in the second round last year. Could use some two tight end sets, but Bowers has made his presence felt early pairing with Davante Adams, he’s gonna get the ball a good bit. Some scouts thought he was the best player overall in the entire draft. He slipped to 13, so they’ve got a major marquee player here.”
Mayer caught one pass for seven yards during Saturday’s preseason opener. During his rookie season, he totaled 304 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns for Las Vegas.
Whether Bowers overtakes those minutes completely, or a two-tight end set is utilized remains to be seen. With Bowers’ added blocking abilities, he can theoretically be used as a decoy with Mayer running the routes in a two-tight end set to keep the defenses on their toes by using the dueling tight ends.
At Georgia, he was the main tight end when he was on the field. Despite missing three games in 2023 dur to an ankle injury, Bowers still caught 56 passes for 714 yards and six touchdowns. On the block, he helped the Bulldogs offensive line lead the rushing attack to 2,677 yards from scrimmage to go with 40 touchdowns on the year.
Bowers knows what it takes to win as well. During his time at Georgia, Bowers never lost a regular season game while helping the team reach the SEC title game in each of the last three seasons. In total, he caught 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns during his college career.
Looking ahead to his rookie season in the NFL, Bowers now looks to help bolster a Raiders team that finished with an 8-9 record last year. They kick the regular season off on the road against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers in a divisional matchup on Sept. 8.
On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this article.
