The Las Vegas Raiders added some much needed versatility in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. With the 80th overall pick, they chose Lynn Bowden Jr. out of Kentucky, who’s a Swiss army knife. With Bryan Edwards one pick later and Henry Ruggs III in the first round, the receiver room continues to get deeper and more versatile.
They say speed kills in the NFL, and if it doesn’t, Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock will have you believe it does. The Raiders added the speedster Ruggs III out of Alabama with the 12th pick, picked Bowden Jr. out of Kentucky the 80th overall pick and Edwards with the 81st. While Bowden didn’t run a 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, he was clocked at 4.38 coming out of high school. So far, he hasn’t appeared to have slowed down at all.
One might have to watch his college film in slow motion to truly appreciate all he can do. It was reported right after the pick the Raiders would play him at running back and then transition him to wide receiver. He does appear to be more comfortable as a running back and slightly more polished there, but his big play potential won’t keep him bottled up for long.
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His versatility is one I can imagine Gruden is going to have coming up with plays for. Bowden lined up at quarterback, wide receiver, running back and even returned a few punts/kicks back in college. Gruden can’t afford to leave that type of versatility off the field, I can’t imagine he won’t want to do so either. While Bowden doesn’t have an actual position, that type of versatility will truly open the Raiders offense in 2020.
The following play shows off what Bowden can bring to the team. If you haven’t seen it, and even if you have, just sit back and imagine what he can bring to silver and black in 2020:
In high school this man @LynnBowden_1 made the best play I’ve ever seen in any level of football @TylerIAm https://t.co/iBNOg3tsK9 pic.twitter.com/udmmNp22FG
— Peter Hurley (@phurls12) November 21, 2019
Bowden adds some versatility to an offense that’s been lacking it the past few seasons. The Raiders experimented with Trevor Davis, Ryan Grant and Rico Gafford last season, but none of them were able to produce. With the entire NFL world being enamored by what the Saints do with Taysom Hill, you’d have to imagine Gruden finds a way to get this kid on the field as often as possible.
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Top Photo by Chet White/University of Kentucky Athletics
