Raiders Confident in Relying on Bowers

Las Vegas Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers is the central piece of this offense already.

Nov 17, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) gains a few yards as Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland (8) closes in for the tackle in the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Not much has gone right for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024. 

The offense cannot sustain drives, and the defense is doing everything possible to keep the team in games. However, the team has just two victories and has lost six consecutive games. 

This has not been the season Coach Antonio Pierce envisioned. After he took over as the interim last season, the momentum he created was supposed to carry over into this season. It has not. 

However, there has been one bright spot that has Raider Nation excited for the future: rookie tight end Brock Bowers. 

Bowers has been everything the Raiders hoped he would be when they selected him with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Georgia. The multi-faceted tight end was a multiple-time John Mackey Award winner, given to the best tight end in college football. 

Not only is the rookie excelling on the field and setting records, the Raiders are comfortable running the offense through him. 

It is rare for a team to be comfortable running their offense through a rookie, let alone a rookie tight end. It often takes time for rookies to get acclimated to the speed of the league, but Bowers is a rare breed. 

Bowers caught 13 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in a loss last weekend. Despite the loss, Raiders fans came away more encouraged than ever that Bowers can be an offensive superstar. 

According to Sports Illustrated’s Lindsay Rhodes, Bowers led the league in first-read rate (51.9 percent) and target share (37.2). 

That means whenever Gardner Minshew dropped back to pass, he was looking Bowers’ way more than half the time. 

In the future, the Raiders should be able to rely on Bowers as their first option in the offense. Only players like Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle are the central pieces of their teams’ offenses, placing Bowers in rare company. 

Bowers has unique skills for a tight end, allowing him to succeed in the NFL immediately. He should be a star for this Raiders team for years to come. 

The next step is adding more weapons around him to make his workload less stressful.

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