Brock Bowers part of an 'evolution' at tight end position

Kirby Smart has said it and everyone else knows it, Brock Bowers is unique. Words like “freak” and “alien” have been used to describe the Georgia tight end as he has torn defenses to shreds over the past two seasons.

Brock Bowers is UGA’s leading receiver in 2022, just as he was as a freshman a year ago. He’s doing even more as a sophomore.

The Napa, Calif. native has five total touchdowns on the season with more of those coming on the ground, three, than as a pass catcher. He has Georgia’s longest play from scrimmage through four games, a 75-yard touchdown run on the Bulldogs’ second play from scrimmage vs. Kent State.

It’s easy to see why the praise keeps being heaped upon Brock Bowers. It’s easy to see why some might have a hard time viewing him as a tight end and that alone. But he’s a byproduct of how his position has changed in recent years.

“As he was growing up and younger, he saw tight-ends doing things in the NFL that the traditional tight-end of the New York Giants lining up in 13 personnel with three O-linemen as tight-ends is no longer the tight-end,” Kirby Smart said earlier this week. “It’s not what it was. And he didn’t necessarily just play tight-end in high school. If you’ve watched his high school tape, he was not really just a tight end. So I think part of the sale in recruiting was you won’t be used just as a tight-end.

“Now, tight-ends are different within tight-ends, just like receivers are different within receivers, and running backs are different within running backs. James Cook was not — Zamir White, you know, they’re different people. DBs, you know, there’s a star, there’s a safety, there’s a corner. So there’s these — this variety that never really existed. But now at tight-end, there’s a variety within the tight-end room that I think exists, which makes him different. And it’s okay to be different at that position because offenses have modernized and he’s been part of that evolution.”

In 19 career college games, Brock Bowers has posted a mind-blowing four plays of 70 yards or more. He’s the only player in the SEC with more than one play of 70 yards or more this season.

It’s fair to say that opposing coaches hold their breath every time he is holding the ball with space to move. He’s a broken tackle or two away from turning on the jets and, at 6-foot-4 240 pounds, outrunning the defense to the end zone.

The term “offensive weapon” has been incorporated into the football vernacular over the past 10 years, often used to describe a guy who is dynamic with the ball in his hands but doesn’t quite fit the mold of specific skill player. Brock Bowers is definitely an offensive weapon. He’s also, without a doubt, a tight end.

He’s not the only good one that the Bulldogs have. They can also utilize that 6-foot-7 265-pound Darnell Washington in a number of different ways. True freshman Oscar Delp has also turned some heads since enrolling in January.

Smart would love to have as many Brock Bowers on his roster as possible, but the seventh-year head coach understands how hard those guys are to find. Instead, his aim for his tight end and other position groups is to find guys who help the Bulldogs check off all the boxes.

“The skillset of the tight ends we recruit has changed because we want tight ends that complement each other, and we want receivers that complement each other,” Smart said after Tuesday’s practice. “We are not really looking across at tight ends and receivers to compliment. We would like to have that done within its room. If we are heavy with one type of tight end, we might need a different kind of receiver.

“When you have ten, eleven, twelve scholarship receivers, you need a variety there. You need guys who can play inside, outside, be vertical threats, physical threats, matchup threats – you need it all. That’s hard across the board. I don’t think anybody in the country can tell you they have a full stable of receivers because if they do, they’re looking to go somewhere else, I can promise you. Every receiver is looking for an opportunity to touch the ball, and it’s hard to have enough receivers.”

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