There were high expectations for Brock Bowers coming into the National Football League, who would be selected by the Las Vegas Raiders with the 13th-overall pick in this year’s draft. Bowers, who won the John Mackey Award in both 2022 and 2023 – an annual award given to the tight end deemed ‘most outstanding’ in college football – was not only considered a phenomenal prospect coming out of Georgia, but dubbed by many as the ‘best’ prospect at his position in league history. From the start, Bowers was unfairly given borderline-unrealistic expectations. Yet, through the first 10 contests of his young career, the 21-year old has managed to meet each and every single one of those unfair expectations.
By all accounts, Brock Bowers is indeed proving that he just may have been the best tight end prospect in league history.
Should this come as a surprise? On top of being the only player to claim the John Mackey Award more than once, both Bowers’ 175 receptions and 26 touchdowns at Georgia stands more than any player has accumulated at the school in over two decades. More impressively, the 2024 first-rounder hit these marks in only three year’s time.
This success has translated perfectly at the NFL-level.
Through 10 games, Bowers leads all tight ends in receiving yardage, receptions, yards after catch and first downs. There are only four players at his position who have scored more times than him as well. In comparison to the rest of the NFL, regardless of position, Bowers’ 706 receiving yards rank 10th-most while his 70 receptions stand second to only Ja’Marr Chase. With 38 first downs on the year, only five pass-catchers have moved the chains more than Bowers.
These numbers don’t rival the best rookie campaigns by tight ends throughout league history; they top them.
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers is set to break multiple records
As things stand, Bowers is averaging seven catches per contest with 70.6 yards receiving. This puts Sin City’s first-overall pick on pace for 1,200 yards on 119 receptions at the season’s end.
Currently, the NFL record for most receptions by a rookie tight end is 106 while the most receiving yardage recorded is 1,076.
Not only is Bowers on track to break both of these records, the catch-record held by Sam LaPorta and the the yardage-record by Hall-of-Famer Mike Ditka, but he’s set to do it in dominant fashion. At his current rate, Bowers could miss an entire contest and still finish his rookie campaign with 1,109 yards on 112 receptions; both of which would still stand as NFL records.
Additionally, Bowers finished Week 11 by hauling in 13 passes against the Miami Dolphins. On top of being a career-high, it’s the most catches a rookie tight end has ever caught in a game.
In addition to being on record watch, Bowers is actively setting new NFL records.
Needless to say, the future is blindingly-bright for the Raiders first-year pass-catcher. Will he be able to maintain his otherworldly pace, though? There’s both good and bad news for the rookie. The final seven games welcome the Chiefs, Chargers and Broncos, all of which rank top-10 in least passing yardage allowed. That’s the bad news.
The good news is four of the Raiders’ final seven opponents rank top-10 via most passing yardage allowed. More than that, both the Jaguars and Saints are on the schedule, who stand as the two leaders in passing yards surrendered. Atlanta, who Las Vegas will face in Week 15, allows the fifth-most.
However, Bowers’ 13-catch day did come against a Dolphins defense which allows the sixth-least passing yardage. Perhaps defenses matter little.
*Top Photo: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images