Brock Bowers is heralded as one of the best TE prospects of the past decade, rivaling Brock Bowers in that regard. He fell slightly from where he was expected to go before landing with the Raiders at the No. 13 overall pick. Las Vegas still has an uncertain QB situation, but they at least have a fantastic new weapon for the Gardner Minshew–Aidan O’Connell combo.
BROCK BOWERS
Projection: 54.0 catches on 82.4 targets for 621.0 yards and 4.2 TDs
- Bowers is the unquestioned TE1 in the 2023 class and has been on the NFL radar since his freshman season at Georgia. Anthony Amico wrote in his prospect profile that “Bowers may be the best TE prospect we have ever seen.” He posted at least a 21% market share of receiving yards in each of his three seasons in college, which is especially impressive considering it meant he was highly productive as a true freshman at Georgia of all places. He led all tight ends in yards after the catch in all three of his collegiate seasons. He did not do testing at the NFL Combine or Georgia’s pro day as he recovers from tightrope surgery, but there’s no reason to question his athletic ability. Scouts have compared Bowers to George Kittle for his dual-threat ability as a receiver, particularly after the catch, and his proficiency as a blocker. After Sam LaPorta showed that rookie TEs could be highly productive in Yearr 1, Bowers will certainly be a highly sought-after asset in fantasy drafts this summer.
- Michael Mayer had an alright rookie year and was a highly touted TE prospect in his own right, but Bowers is on a different level and should be the TE1 in LV. Davante Adams will dominate targets and Jakobi Meyers played well last year too, so don’t expect a LaPorta-level rookie season, but there’s a path to immediate fantasy relevancy for Bowers.
OTHER RAIDERS PASS-CATCHERS
- Davante Adams is going to be fine. He’s entrenched as the WR1 for Vegas and he can return WR1 value even with Bowers in town. After that, every other pass-catcher’s volume is at risk. Bowers could reasonably assume secondary pass-catcher volume ahead of Meyers, although that’s no sure thing, and it’s worth keeping in mind the relentless narrative about rookie TEs before LaPorta went off in 2023.
- This is brutal news for Mayer, who was drafted under a different head coach and now has to compete with one of the best TE prospects ever. He’ll fall to TE2 on the depth chart. He’s good enough that they could just run a ton of 2-TE sets, but the path to fantasy relevancy is still murky for him in his second pro season. It’s worth monitoring if the Raiders make him available in trade talks at some point.
