Where Does Raiders Rookie Rank Among Fellow First Rounders After Preseason Debut?

The Las Vegas Raiders selected Brock Bowers No. 13 in the draft in hopes the generational tight end could add a new wrinkle to Luke Getsy's offense. So far, he has impressed.

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

Coming out of Georgia, tight end Brock Bowers was billed as a generational player at his position.

Bowers' combination of size, speed, route running, and blocking were tools and traits that scouts compared to just about every tight end great. Bowers was by far the best player available when he fell to the Las Vegas Raiders at 13th overall.

Bowers was impressive in rookie minicamp, OTAs, and mandatory minicamp. Then came the summer dead period and all of the hype.

12 personnel! A dynamic duo with Michael Mayer! Luke Getsy is going to have a field day!

Then came fall camp and Bowers continued his positive momentum. Our Hondo Carpenter Sr. and just about every Raiders beat writer singled out Bowers for praise. End-zone weapon, great with the ball in his hands, fluid route running.

The first preseason game might have been a prelude to what the Raiders and the NFL will have in store for 2024. Bowers earned an above average 76.1 player grade from Pro Football Grade on just 11 snaps. Not bad when his principal opponent was Byron Murphy Jr. PFF's Dalton Wasserman praised Bowers.

"The Raiders used Bowers as a chess piece in a preview of his long-term role," Wasserman wrote. "He lined up in nine different spots across his 11 snaps and looks like he will cause matchup problems for opposing defenses. He caught both of his targets, totaling 25 yards and two first downs. As is customary for Bowers, 18 of those 25 yards came after the catch. He did have one negatively graded run block, but it seems clear that the Raiders will use Michael Mayer more often in that role."

Bowers has looked the part so far. Earlier this summer, PFF compiled a list of the Top 32 best tight ends in the league heading into 2024. They put Bowers at No. 14, ahead of established NFL tight ends such as Hunter Henry, Luke Musgrave, Isaiah Likely, Noah Fant, and Jonnu Smith.

Of course, Bowers still has yet to play a regular season snap. All signs have indicated a positive trend for the rookie, though. Bowers will not doubt be compared to the Detroit Lions' Sam LaPorta, who was the breakout rookie tight end last season and more than that, one of the NFL's best. Those expectations will be unfair, regardless of Bowers' label of "generational talent."

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