Brock Bowers drafted by Las Vegas Raiders 13th overall

Georgia tight end Brock Bowers is off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Las Vegas Raiders made him their first round pick Thursday night at No. 13 overall.

A three-year star during his time in Athens, few players have had a bigger impact than Bowers. He led Georgia in receiving every year of his career, totaling 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns on 175 receptions. Bowers also added five rushing scores as a dynamic weapon for the Bulldog offense. Twice did Bowers win the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end, the first-ever to do so, and he was named a first-team All-American by USA TODAY and others three times. In 2023, Bowers earned unanimous All-American honors, just the 14th ever player in Georgia program history to receive such a nod.

A native of Napa, Calif., Bowers arrived at Georgia in spring of 2021 after not playing his senior season of high school due to COVID. He impressed immediately, and expectations were high for him from the get-go.

“Right away you can tell he only knew one speed,” former Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken, now with the Baltimore Ravens, said before the 2021 College Football Playoffs. “He’d be 10 yards in front of every other guy. He was working at his own speed to be the best he could be, and that is a rare quality to put yourself out there like he did. So right away you could see this guy is different.”

As a freshman that fall, Bowers set school records for single-season receptions and yards by a tight end while his 13 receiving touchdowns was most regardless of position. Four times in 2021 did Bowers top the 100-yard mark including in his first home game against UAB, breaking free for a career-long 89-yard touchdown. Bowers earned SEC Freshman of the Week twice for performances versus Vanderbilt and Kentucky on his way to eventually being named the league’s Freshman of the Year by both the coaches and media. He also won national Freshman of the Year by multiple outlets, finishing his first year with 56 catches, 882 yards, 13 touchdowns while helping Georgia win its first National Championship in 41 years.

Bowers didn’t see any sort of a sophomore slump either. In fact, his numbers in 2022 were even more impressive, totaling over 1,000 yards of offense (942 receiving, 109 rushing). Bowers hauled in 63 passes that season, once again helping the Bulldogs to a national title – only this time, they went undefeated. He had over 120 receiving yards against South Carolina, Florida and TCU. The same is true for Georgia’s win over Kent State, only it came as combined rushing and receiving. All in all, Bowers was the focal point of Georgia’s offense for a second straight season, and teams couldn’t stop him.

A third year for Bowers in Athens was equally as incredible at times, but injuries stood in the way of potentially seeing Georgia’s first 1,000-yard receiving season since 2002. Bowers underwent tight rope surgery on a high ankle sprain in October – returning in record time but not quite being the same player as he was before due to the short recovery time. In his three games prior to the injury, Bowers went for 410 yards, an average of 136.7 a game, and four touchdowns. In the three games he played post-injury, he had just 147. Still, Bowers matched his freshman season total of catches (56) and did so in five fewer games, totaling 714 yards and six receiving scores to lead UGA in all three categories.

“I think the NFL is going to allow him to utilize his skillset even better,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said recently when asked what the ceiling for Bowers in the NFL is. “They’re a pass first league. He’s a weapon. He can block, that’s great and we asked him to block, but he didn’t have to do that out there. They’re going to use the guy all over the place. He’s smart, is one of the best hands catchers and in adjusting to the ball that I’ve ever been around. He can contort his body, I’ve seen some of the catches in practice that are just unreal. I think he’s going to be a great weapon for teams.”

“I just try to not mess him up, I guess. He challenges me to find new ways to reach him. He challenges me to continue to find new ways to make him a better tight end … That is a challenge because he is good at a lot of things. So continuing to maybe find new individual drills or new ways to perfect his run game technique or his pass-protecting technique or even his route running technique can improve at times. And that’s a challenge, but he pushes me at different times to become a better coach, Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley added on his special player. “He set a precedent. He set a standard of how to practice at tight end. He set a standard of how to watch tape at tight end … Hopefully long after he’s gone, the legacy he’s left stays for many years about how you’re supposed to work, how you’re supposed to approach each day and how you become a pro, man, because that guy is a pro in everything he does and hopefully that leaves a lasting legacy.”

Bowers marks the 16th first round selection from Georgia during the Kirby Smart era and the 56th player taken overall. In Las Vegas, he’ll have an opportunity to reunite with UGA teammates of his Zamir White and Christopher Smith.

The NFL Draft continues Friday and Saturday with the second/third and fourth/fifth/sixth/seventh rounds where several more former Georgia players are expected to come off the board. Coverage can be found on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network starting at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday and noon on Saturday.