How Lynn Bowden Jr. Looked in Camp and Why the Raiders Traded Him

A scouting report on new Miami Dolphins running back-receiver-returner Lynn Bowden Jr. after he was acquired in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders

Jim Dedmon-USA Today Sports

Lynn Bowden Jr. was among the most exciting prospects in the 2020 NFL draft because of his ability to do so many things, whether it be throw the ball, run it, catch it or return punts.

The Las Vegas Raiders selected Bowden in the third round and they certainly weren't the only team interested in him. In fact, the Dolphins were one of those teams that liked Bowden.

So now that Bowden has been traded from the Raiders to the Dolphins, the question must be asked: What happened in Las Vegas, and why did Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden give up on him before even his first regular season game?

To get an idea, we checked with RaiderMaven publisher Hondo Carpenter.

"Lynn Bowden was a Swiss Army knife in training camp for the Raiders this year," Carpenter wrote for AllDolphins+. "He was able to do numerous things at numerous positions, but didn't fit on the Raiders where they had several players that could do the same.

"He was the quintessential player that was a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. His inability to be a potent blocker in pass protection is why he's not in Las Vegas now.

"While not dazzling, he looked very good running the football from the running back position, as well as the returner spot, and as a receiver. But not being able to break into the two deep at any of those spots combined with his struggles blocking in passing situations was his downfall."

With the Dolphins, one could envision Bowden being used as a receiver and returner, and also occasionally in the Wildcat, which he ran quite a bit at Kentucky.