3 Raider Rookies Were the Best at Their Positions in College, Will Look to Translate to NFL

Las Vegas Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers, guard Jackson Powers-Johnson and safety Trey Taylor were the best at their respective positions in college.

Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers from OTAs / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

The Las Vegas Raiders had a very successful 2024 NFL Draft that, frankly, isn't being talked about enough.

Of the Raiders' eight 2024 draftees, three were award winners as the best players at their respective positions in their final seasons of college football.

Tight end Brock Bowers, of course, is the most notable. Bowers is a two-time John Mackey Award winner as the nation's top tight end in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He was the clear No. 1 tight end in all of college football and, in turn, was one of the top prospects in this year's draft.

Raiders rookie guard Jackson Powers-Johnson primarily played center in his final season at Oregon, ultimately winning the Rimington Trophy as the nation's best center. Powers-Johnson will play guard for the Raiders, but his versatility on the offensive line is one of the many reasons he was one of the best offensive linemen in this year's draft.

Then there's Raiders seventh-round pick, safety Trey Taylor, the club's second-to-last selection of the draft. Taylor was named the 2023 Jim Thorpe Award winner as college football's top defensive back. Having fallen all the way to the Round 7, Taylor was clearly one of the top steals of the draft.

Selecting these players obviously did not have a whole lot to do with the awards, but having such honors associated with your club is not a bad thing to have.

"Yeah, the awards not so much, but the mentality yes," said Raiders general manager Tom Telesco after the draft. "Because when you look at our head coach and what he's looking for and his mentality, you got to kind of match that and fit that culture. And we feel like most of these guys have that. And I bet even some of the phone calls when you guys talked to the players, you could probably feel that already and you haven't even seen them yet.

"So, our guys feel the same thing. Our scouts who are on the road, they not only have to look at the football player between the white lines but everything else about the person that goes into it, and most of these guys fit those traits."

Bowers, Powers-Johnson and Taylor will look to separate themselves in the NFL, just as they did at the college level.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.