The Raiders took some criticism for drafting a tight end in the first round of the 2024, but a year later, Brock Bowers is already considered one of the best tight ends in the NFL.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler shared a survey this week and according to the executives, coaches and scouts he talked to, most believe there isn’t a tight end in the league better than Bowers.
Additionally, Fowler said many scouts viewed Bowers as the best prospect in the draft, but he fell to the 13th pick due to his position.
“[Bowers] was the highest-graded overall player in the 2024 draft in the eyes of some NFL scouts, but the position he plays, coupled with a strong quarterback draft, dropped him to the No. 13 pick,” Fowler reported in an ESPN column on Friday.
“Sure, the Raiders needed a quarterback in the worst way, but there’s no way they regret the selection of Bowers, who met expectations, then smashed them.”
It’s no secret that former Raiders GM Telesco was listening to offers for the 13th pick with Bowers on the board and the team believed to be pushing the hardest for Bowers was the Los Angeles Rams.
Based on a released conversation during the draft between the Rams and the Jets, it’s a safe assumption that the Raiders turned down picks 19 and 52 for the 13th pick they used on Bowers.
For the first time publicly, Telesco talked last month about the decision to take Bowers, and it sounds like the University of Georgia tight end was not initially one of the Raiders’ top targets leading up to the draft.
“We preferred to take a premium position in the first round of the draft and on the pay scale, tight ends don’t fit in that group. [Drafting Brock Bowers] was something he had kind of pushed to the side even though we knew how good he was,” Telesco said on the Check the Mic podcast.
“[But] as we got later in the process, the way I looked at it, what he could bring to our offense, what he could do, I kind of went off the script a little bit and decided to go that route and I’m glad we did. He’s an outstanding player.”
Obviously, the thinking in the Raiders’ building changed significantly because they turned down a significant trade offer for the opportunity to draft Bowers.
Telesco also acknowledged that Jayden Daniels was the quarterback the Raiders really wanted.
Jayden Daniels. That would have been easy,” Telesco said. “But then when we got into J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix and Michael Penix, as far as trading up for those guys, that I was not as much into. To give up that many assets, because we were going to have to give up a lot of draft picks. We needed as many as possible to try to build up the team. So that would have been a hard move to make to trade up for one of those quarterbacks… other than Jayden Daniels that was going to be a non-starter.
Telesco pointed to injury concerns around Penix as a concern but added that drafting Nix was in consideration.
“Bo Nix, his background of work, his durability, his movement skills,” Telesco said. “That one was interesting, and he’s gone to the perfect team. That would have been a good possibility.”
Last year, league insider Mike Sando quoted two NFL executives in a column for The Athletic, and both believed it was a poor decision by 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.”
As it turned out, the Raiders did have a good plan for Bowers and there are probably a few teams that picked ahead of them in last year’s draft that wish they hadn’t let the league’s no. 1 tight end slip away.
x: @raidersbeat
If teams and evaluators are true to themselves they should’ve looked at Bowers as a slot receiver or a big receiver. A move TE is just that they move. Year one was an excellent start for Bowers except all of the losing due to multiple years of terrible roster decisions. This year shouldn’t be as hopeless but there are major holes still on the roster.
Can’t say I wasn’t shocked by that selection when it happened!! But even more shocking when Atlanta took Pennix! So a year later and we look like smart guys but it was just letting the draft come to you and take the best player available regardless of position. Didn’t matter thought because he was still fired!