The Whole NFL Thinks This Las Vegas Raiders Superstar is the Best in the World

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Brock Bowers runs onto the field for the Raiders game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 13, 2024.

Friday July 11, 2025 is a day that will go down in history for Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers. 

Every year in the offseason, ESPN releases lists of the Top 10 players in the NFL at each position. These lists are compiled using a poll of NFL coaches, executives and scouts, the people who know the NFL the best. 

A player who was a rookie the previous year has never been ranked No. 1 at his position. Until now. 

On this year’s list of Top 10 tight ends, compiled by Jeremy Fowler, Brock Bowers ranked No. 1. 

He shot up the list past superstars like Travis Kelce (No. 5) and George Kittle (No. 2). 

This list only confirms what Raiders fans already knew: Bowers is off to arguably the fastest start individually of any player in NFL history. 

Could Bowers Be The Greatest Tight End Ever? 

Bowers’s career is a long, long, long way from the end. And anything can happen; injuries often derail the promising careers of players seemingly destined to be the best ever. See: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels. 

But, if Bowers stays healthy and produces at a similar level, it follows that since he’s so good already, he could go down as the best tight end to ever do it. 

“Among his Year 1 records: most receiving yards by a rookie tight end in NFL history (1,194), most receptions by a rookie at any position (112) and most receptions by any player in a single season in Raiders history,” Fowler wrote in the ESPN article. 

This was also with the quarterback play of Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell. Bowers has a much more proven quarterback for the next few seasons in Geno Smith and a championship-winning offensive coordinator in Chip Kelly. The Raiders are also likely going to keep pursuing a long term answer at QB to throw to Bowers for years to come. 

If Bowers continues to put up 1,194 yards per season on average, he would need only 13 seasons to break Tony Gonzalez’s all-time record for yards by a tight end. 

And remember, his quarterback play is supposed to be better next season. That almost certainly will make it easier for him to rack up a lot of yards. 

Raiders fans already witnessed some Brock Bowers history, but they could be in for a lot more. 

What Would It Take for Ashton Jeanty to Have a Similar Rookie Season?

The comparisons are unavoidable. 

After the seasons that Bowers had, and with arguably a generational talent at running back in Ashton Jeanty, Raiders fans are hoping history can repeat itself and Jeanty can step in and be the best running back in the NFL immediately. 

But what would it take for Jeanty to set the same records that Bowers did?

The rookie record for rushing yards is 1,808, set by Eric Dickerson in 1983. 

That’s a steep, steep number to reach. If Jeanty did, he would also break the all-time Raiders rushing yards record of 1,759 yards, set by Marcus Allen in 1985. 

It’s not out of the question. Remember, Jeanty had 2,601 rushing yards for Boise State last season in only 14 games. He’s going to have 17 this season. 

But Jeanty was also playing against the Mountain West, not the AFC West. 

But what do you think, Raiders fans? Is Jeanty in for a historic season like Bowers? Is Bowers going to have the greatest career of all time for a tight end?