Cole Cubelic believes it's time to talk about Brock Bowers as country's best player
Watch list season doesn’t start until next week, but one name everybody knows we’ll see on several lists is Brock Bowers. The winner of the Mackey Award last season as the country’s top tight end, SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic believes it’s time to start talking about Bowers as the best player in the country regardless of position.
“I wonder why we shy away from talking about him as the best college football player right now in America. Like, why are people afraid to have that conversation?,” Cubelic said. “Best tight end, sure, maybe best offensive weapon, but he should be on a very short list discussion of best college players right now. That’s it. Game, set, match. Nothing else to talk about. You don’t need to add an asterisk to it, you don’t need to parenthesis that thing, he might be the best player in America.”
In two seasons at Georgia, Bowers has totaled nearly 2,000 yards. He won National Freshman of the Year in 2021, helping the Bulldogs break a 41-year drought without a National Championship, before have an arguably even better sophomore season statistically.
After setting Georgia single-season records as a freshman with 56 catches for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns – all three of which are records for his position and regardless of position for the touchdown total – he came back in 2022 with 63 catches, 942 yards and seven receiving scores. Bowers also added 109 rushing yards on just nine carries with three touchdowns on the ground, topping the 1,000-yard total.
In the process, Bowers became the first Georgia player to win the Mackey Award and should be considered the favorite to become the award’s first-ever two-time winner.
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CHECK IT OUT: Getting the ball in hands of Brock Bowers more a priority for Georgia this season
Bowers is eligible for the NFL Draft after this season, and projecting him to go high is quite popular and pretty easy. What’s much tougher is figuring out who to compare him to at the tight end position.
“We talked a lot about Bowers, and I hate player comps – I really do – but it’s an interesting discussion with Brock because I asked the question to some guys I was working with, ‘Is there a comp? Does this kid have a comp because I’m leaning more towards no?,'” Cubelic said.
“Aaron Hernandez as a player would be the only thing I could think of because he took those shovel passes and could run like a slot receiver, running back sometimes. But I think Bowers is even more versatile,” he continued. “I think he’s a better blocker. I think he’s more interested in blocking. Speed, it’s probably about the same, but if he gets legitimate reps, not even legitimate, at tailback and they move him even more and he does even more things for this team, will he have a comp?”
Bowers and the Bulldogs are set to begin fall camp a week from today – Thursday, August 3rd – with the Georgia season opener coming September 2nd at Sanford Stadium against UT-Martin (6:00 p.m. ET, ESPN+/SECN+).
