“Always Open” Raiders Host Says Brock Bowers Has Been Uncoverable in Training Camp

The consensus among most within the NFL is that the Raiders have the no. 1 tight end in the league in Brock Bowers.

But to people around the team over the last few weeks, Bowers isn’t just the best in the league. He’s on his way to becoming one of the best ever.

“I’ve seen a lot of great football players in my life. I grew up with Lawrence Taylor. I followed Reggie White, Joe Montana, John Elway. I swear on my kids, Brock Bowers is going to be one of the greatest football players to ever live. This guy practices like it’s the week of the Super Bowl. Today, he was running routes, he’s catching balls. He can catch anything with one hand,” Raider Nation Radio host ‘JT the Brick’ said two weeks ago.

“When he catches the ball in front of you, he catches the ball and the vision that he has to get up field is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Someone described it to me today like it was Raymond Chester in his prime, or even better than Dave Casper, who turned out to be a Hall of Famer.”

One of JT’s colleagues at the team’s flagship radio station, Q Myers, talked about Bowers on Wednesday and Myers believes Bowers is going to break records this season if he stays healthy.

“Brock Bowers is going to have an incredible season. If Bowers stays healthy, start to finish, I really anticipate him breaking records,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show.

“Just from what I’ve seen in practice and the way that he is always, and I mean always open, I don’t care who’s on him or how many are on him, he’s always open and just the way that they are running this and the different kind of way Kubiak’s offense is set up, this is ideal for a guy in Brock Bowers. I’ll just throw that out there that I believe this dude is in for a monster season in year number three.”

Criticisms of the Bowers pick look ridiculous now

Back in 2024, league insider Mike Sando quoted two NFL executives in a column for The Athletic, and both believed it was a poor decision on the Raiders part to draft a tight end at pick 13.

“I think they were stuck once Atlanta took (Michael) Penix and they were like, ‘Oh, crap, we might not get a quarterback to fall to us,’ and they scrambled and took that kid,” an exec told Sando on the Bowers selection. “He is a good player, but a luxury item. I don’t like those kinds of picks unless you have everything else.”

“Bowers is not like Dalton Kincaid where you can create separation in the normal flow of the offense,” another exec said. “You have to move him. He would be ideal in San Francisco or Miami. Whereas Kincaid is special at the top of the route, Bowers is one-cut, catch it, break three tackles and he’s gone. Hopefully, they have a good plan for him because he can do some really unique things with the ball.”

The Raiders could have traded the no. 13 pick used on Bowers

In an NFL Films video released in June of 2024, a draft day conversation between the Rams and the Jets revealed the strong interest the Rams had in trading up for the 10th pick in the draft.

It was no secret that the Rams were trying to trade up, but now we know what the Rams were willing to give to get the player they wanted at the top of the draft.

The assumption has been that the Rams were targeting Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, and if that’s the case, it would make sense that the Raiders were offered the same deal for pick 13 (with Bowers on the board) that the Jets were offered for pick 10.

Blaine Grisak 💭 on X (formerly Twitter): “Nobody’s disappointed that the Rams landed Verse and Fiske, but this video confirms Rams did try to move up and pre-draft rumblings suggested that player they were targeting was Bowers. pic.twitter.com/cdWsEmSOLa / X”

Nobody’s disappointed that the Rams landed Verse and Fiske, but this video confirms Rams did try to move up and pre-draft rumblings suggested that player they were targeting was Bowers. pic.twitter.com/cdWsEmSOLa

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has reported that the Rams were aggressively trying to pull off a trade until Bowers was drafted by the Raiders. He also said the Rams and Colts were among a group of teams that were believed to be trying to trade up for Bowers.

There isn’t any reason for the Raiders reveal the offers they received for the 13th pick, but it’s believed that they had a top-5 grade on Bowers going into the draft. GM Tom Telesco said the Raiders never expected Bowers to be available at pick 13 and his decision to hold on to the pick, despite significant offers, would support that belief.

Based on the conversation between the Rams and the Jets, it’s probably a safe assumption the Raiders turned down picks 19 and 52 for the 13th pick they used on Bowers.

x: @raidersbeat

RAIDERS SQUAD SHOW: Las Vegas RAIDERS vs CARDINALS preseason PREVIEW & unofficial DEPTH CHART

The Las Vegas Raiders are set for their first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, and all eyes are on the quarterback room. On this episode of the Raiders Squad Show, Lincoln Kennedy, Q Myers and Shantelle Chand break down the Raiders’ first unofficial depth chart, the biggest position battles still to be decided, and whether the starting offensive line is officially set heading into Week 1.