Nick Saban, College GameDay crew rave about Brock Bowers

The NFL Draft is just moments away, and Georgia tight end Brock Bowers is likely to come off the board early. How early? That remains to be seen, but the ESPN College GameDay crew that got to know him as a player over the last few years – now including former Alabama coach Nick Saban – couldn’t help but rave about him.

“There are three players who we played the last couple of years that were the most difficult players to play against: Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers and Brock Bowers. Those three guys made a significant impact on the game more than anybody else we played against,” Saban said.

“There’s so much emphasis these last few weeks on the quarterbacks and receivers, guys like, maybe the best player in the draft is Brock Bowers, and he’s kind of being forgotten about,” Kirk Herbstreit added. “With all the quarterbacks, it’s sort of pushing all the better players in the draft down. I can’t wait to see who just can’t resist having an opportunity to take a Brock Bowers who can be a difference maker.”

A three-year star during his time in Athens, few players 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.

As for his impact against Saban’s Crimson Tide, how about 228 yards, two touchdowns and 19 receptions in three games? That includes a career-high 10 grabs in the SEC Championship Game as a freshman and a key touchdown in the National Championship to help Georgia beat Alabama and claim its first title in 41 years.

“Brock Bowers, I don’t think people understand, he’s a receiver in a tight end’s body,” Desmond Howard said. “Defending him, he’s a guy who’s a physical freak, a unicorn. You don’t see guys like that all the time. He’s going to be one of the guys who I think is going to make an instant impact.”

“I think the thing about it is, whenever we watch Brock Bowers do his thing, it’s like, ‘Great route running, hard work, teammates love him.’ That’s the thing about it that doesn’t get talked about,” Pat McAfee added. “We’re putting these expectations on all these first rounders … Who’s the dude – that’s why the TopGolf thing I think was so real. What the Commanders did with their top 30 visit, they brought in 20 guys at the same time and took them to TopGolf. Allegedly Jayden Daniels’ agent didn’t like it, JJ McCarthy bombed some balls, Drake Maye bombed some balls, but I think you get a chance to see if they get along with each other. Obviously if you’re a first round draft pick you have the talent. Do you have it in between the ears and do you get along with teammates? We’ll see in this modern day NIL world.”

Each of the members of the GameDay crew picked their biggest impact immediate player. Howard, who played a Michigan, went with the Wolverine quarterback JJ McCarthy while both Herbstreit and fellow Ohio State alum Joey Galloway chose the Buckeye wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Saban on the other hand went with the player who gave his teams some of their biggest problems.

“Brock Bowers is a guy who’s a mismatch player at tight end. He’s a great receiver as an H-back, good enough blocker. I think he’s going to be lightning in the NFL.”

The NFL Draft begins from Detroit momentarily on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network with coverage continuing into the weekend throughout the entirety of the seven-round event.