Las Vegas Raiders select Brock Bowers in first round of 2024 NFL Draft

The Las Vegas Raiders have selected Georgia Bulldogs tight end Brock Bowers in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Bowers spent the last three seasons as an impact player for the Bulldogs, leading them to two national championships in the last three seasons.

In 2023, Bowers caught 56 passes for 714 yards and six touchdowns. He also efficiently ran the football with 28 yards and one touchdown on six carries. Bowers had a productive year despite missing three games due to an ankle injury.

Bowers won the John Mackey Award last year, and he’s the only player to win the award twice. The California native was also a unanimous All-American and was selected to the All-SEC First Team for the third consecutive year. During his time at Georgia, Bowers never lost a regular season game and helped the team reach the SEC title game the last three seasons. He caught 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns in his career.

Bowers played high school football at Napa High School in Napa, California, where he was a four-star prospect. He ranked as the No. 66 overall prospect and the No. 1 tight end in the 2021 class, according to the On3 Industry Rating, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Brock Bowers

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein shared his analysis on Bowers’ game in his recent scout of the tight end’s draft profile. He compared Bowers to San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle, praising him for his speed and hands.

“Prolific pass-catching tight end with a rare blend of acceleration, speed, body control and hands that could breathe new life into a stale NFL offense,” Zierlen wrote. “Bowers was a high-volume target at Georgia and led the team in receiving yards in all three of his college seasons. He plays with relentless pacing as a route runner, allowing him to beat man coverage. Also, he’s highly effective at exploiting zone pockets for first downs and chunk plays. Bowers’ secret sauce might be his ability to rip through tacklers and pile on yardage after the catch.

“He’ll be an adequate move blocker and give effort at the point of attack, but that is the one area where his game falls short of George Kittle’s, for comparison purposes. Bowers is an explosive athlete but lacks the premium measurables typically associated with early first-rounders. It might take a year for him to acclimate to defenders who are bigger, faster and longer, but he appears destined to become a highly productive NFL player with Pro Bowl upside.”