Brock Bowers not taking any different approach after successful start to career

ATHENS, Ga. — No player in the Georgia Football building has accomplished more already in his career than Brock Bowers. Yes, several players contributed to two National Championships, but Bowers led both Bulldog teams in receiving, was SEC Freshman of the Year in 2021 and won the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end in 2022. Georgia’s offense is entirely different because the Bulldogs have Bowers.

Still, speaking with Bowers, you wouldn’t know that he’s special. Just a kid from Napa, Calif., Bowers is back in Athens for a third – and likely last – season ready to do whatever he can to help his team win.

“It’s definitely changed a little bit because I’m one of the older guys now. That’s kind of shocking to me because I feel like I haven’t been here very long,” Bowers said about his role on the team having been so successful early in his career. “I’m just trying to take a little bit more of a leadership role. We’ll see, I don’t know.”

In two seasons with the Bulldogs, Bowers has caught 119 passes for 1,824 yards and 20 touchdowns. He’s added another 165 yards and four scores on the ground to give him just shy of 2,000 total yards in 30 career games. He’s got seven 100+ yard outings and seven multi-touchdown games to his name. While he probably won’t finish his career at the top of Georgia’s all-time receiving records, the fact that it’s even a thought after just two seasons says everything you need to know about Bowers and the kind of player he is.

This time next year we’ll likely be discussing Bowers as a potential top-10 pick. This year though, he’s only concerned about getting better, an attitude his teammates have taken notice of.

“Brock is one of those guys that whenever you think about ‘eating off the floor,’ he’s one of the first people on the top of the list,” Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter said, making reference to what has kind of become a motto for the team this spring. “He came in, worked hard and as an All-American his freshman year, but his sophomore year he did the same thing every day. He came in, worked hard, ran hard in team runs. He’s not a very vocal guy, but you can see, whenever you’re watching, he’s leading by example. I think that’s what makes him such a great player. He’s willing to do things that it takes to be great.”

“I want to continue to get stronger in the weight room, really focus on the small details of my game throughout my route running and being able to be more dominant in the run game too,” Bowers added. “We’ve got to keep working, stick to our roots and stick to the standard and never do anything that’s not that. We can’t stray away from things that have been working.”

Bowers will once again be the face of the Georgia offense in 2023, but it’ll be a group that’s undergoing quite a bit of change. Quarterback Stetson Bennett, starter for the last two National Championship teams, is gone. So too is offensive coordinator Todd Monken who dialed things up for Bowers as well as tight end teammate Darnell Washington, a weapon that Georgia utilized for his size both in the passing game and run blocking. Bowers is confident however that through all the change, things will look largely the same.

“I definitely thought about that when it first came, but Bobo’s been around the tight end room a lot through the last year,” Bowers said. “… I think it was good to have him come in that year, everybody got used to him and his personality. It wasn’t like we were bringing in a brand new face from outside not knowing a thing about him. And he knew all of us, so that kind of helps in the transition too.”

“He’s been throwing a couple of wrinkles of his own. He’s been doing a good job. We kept a bunch of the same terms because it makes it a lot easier of a transition for all of us,” Bowers continued. “I like what he’s been doing throwing a few wrinkles in there … We’re going to miss Darnell. He’s going to be like a first round pick. Obviously going to take a little bit of a hit like that, but (Oscar) Delp’s coming in there, he’s put on a little bit of weight and he’s been blocking pretty good so far this camp. He’s got to sustain as he tries to fill that role.”

Georgia is four practices in to spring drills and will go for a fifth time on Thursday. Spring practice culminates with the G-Day spring game, set to air live on Saturday, April 15th at 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.