with the drafting of Brock Bowers the Raiders will finally break the curse of wasting first round picks on subpar Talent Bowers is the first blue trip Prospect the Raiders have drafted since 2014 when they selected khil Mack fourth overall Bowers hails from a family of athletes his father mother and sisters all participating at the Collegiate level at Utah State University as a high schooler at Napa Valley High School Bowers natural ability became quite apparent if we're being real Bowers could go pro at any sport or position that he wanted to he played wide receiver tight end running back defensive end linebacker returned kicks and even Le at power forward for the varsity basketball team but little did he know Brock would eventually become the next start tight end for his hometown Raiders Bow's college recruiting was lukewarm early in the process but in 2019 colleges scrambled to sign him after he recorded a 4.54 time during the Nike spark skills competition at the age of 17 and College Brock delivered on his potential winning SEC freshman of the year and back-to-back John Mackey Awards as the best tight end in the country cementing his legacy as the best tight end in college football history in his final season Bowers underwent tight RPP surgery on his ankle mid-season several NFL agents urged him to end his last year and Rehab in preparation of the draft but according to head coach Kirby Smart that was never an option for Brock Bowers was expected to miss up to eight weeks but came back from from surgery in 26 days upon his return smart commented on the possibility of Brock shutting it down for the season saying those agents will not be representing him I promise you that because all it did was piss him off Bowers would come back in time for the Bulldogs SEC title run which they ultimately fell short against Alabama in this first play we have Bowers and 11 personnel lining up as the tight end with three receivers out it's a split Zone concept versus cover two shell split zone is where the offensive line shifts to one side leaving the backside Defender open to run free Bowers is the lone guy covering and blocking this backside Defender Bowers fakes the chip block going away from the direction of the play and peeling off to the flat for a big gain you can't play soft Zone against this guy he'll burn you every time Alabama's number six takes a bad angle tackling high and Bowers makes him pay finishing with violent intentions for the extra couple of yards on this play Brock is lined up in the slot as the fourth wide receiver despite only having 53 receiving yards on the day this play displays his versatility and ability to impact the game even without the ball in his hands while he doesn't hold the block long enough for a first down he gets to his Landmark quickly and shifts the defender towards the sideline creating a seam for the ball carrier to pick up five yards on the swing pass here we see another split Zone concept this time in a double tight package Alabama was burned on a similar route for the first play of the game so this time they take away Bowers in the flat the QB makes the completion to the next level and this is a great example of how Georgia's offense mirrors the pros running similar Concepts from different packages in order to scheme players open it's going to be difficult for NFL defenses to cover both Bowers in the flat and Devonte running and out to the sideline on this play the defense has a substantial lead against Georgia so they line up in zone coverage Bowers finds the soft spot in the middle of the field on a post route and comes down with a beautiful hands catch this shows that he's not just a tight end he truly has wide receiver skills in this formation Bowers lines up trips right as a receiver with a nice little pseudo run for a medium gain this is another 11 personnel package Bowers has the pre- snap motion with no Defender trailing him on the motion the pre- snap read is to find the soft spot in the zone for the easy first down a skill which Bowers has no equal to in all of college football on this snap we have four wide versus a cover four Zone the linebacker gives a half-hearted effort at jamming Bowers the help Defender gets caught staring at the QB and Bowers just settles down in between the two for another first down pre- snap the defense shows Blitz with the strong safety lining up within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage the linebackers get caught in their back pedal and Men cover coverage and Bowers finds the soft spot in the zones for a big game he keeps the possession through the big hit and survives the catch to the ground Bowers simply cannot be covered by your average DB he's too fast and too strong poor number two of the Tennessee balls is giving up nearly 40 lbs to Bowers on this one this touchdown was decided before the ball was even snapped Bowers has a way to go with some of his tight end skills but the edge that he plays with in every facet of the game game shows that the sky is the limit this block doesn't even change the result of the play that much but it sets the tone for every other player on the field with a bum ankle Bowers scraps and fights against the larger Defender finishing the block through the whistle you can't coach this on this one the linebacker has the impossible assignment of jamming Bowers at the line of scrimmage while covering him in man coverage the rub comes late it's honestly a poor effort on the Defender part the safety help comes late as well and there's honestly little they can do once Bowers squares his shoulders up with the line of scrimmage and uses his big frame to convert the first down a great example of Bow's versatility is on jet sweeps he's a lot faster than he looks and he displays great field Vision as a ball carrier he plants his foot in the ground on the cutback and fools the entire defense and uses all 243 lbs to fall forward for a 5 yard gain it might not be the flashiest play but what it does is punishes defenses for playing man coverage encouraging them to sit back in zone where Bowers does his best work in the passing game at times it might not seem fair to judge linebackers for getting burned in coverage by a guy like Bowers but then you have snaps like this where Bowers sets the edge in the Run game and those same linebackers he's burning are giving up first downs the defender snaps Bow's head back it's a nasty block he may even get a piece of Bow's face mask but Bowers maintains inside leverage and bench presses number 57 back setting up the 10 yard run for a first down we don't see nearly enough of this in Bowers taped but it's mostly because he lacks top end NFL Talent throwing him the ball here he lines up as an offset Blocker in a two-point stance and runs a fade route to the sideline which a guy his size has no business making it down the field as quickly as he does if you're not actively preparing against a play like this Bowers will blow up your defensive play calling every single time he's the most athletic guy in the field and there's no stopping him unless you actively try to take this out of the game here's another Jet Sweep for Bowers it's such a big part of the game plan around him because it forces defenses to play honest Bowers has wide receiver Speed most of the guys running jet sweeps in the NFL are only a fraction of a second faster than him but defensive backs have to make legit business decisions when he's coming around unblocked it's an easy 4 plus yards every time you have to make a choice you either tackle him or you live to see another day this is a great Blitz pickup by Bowers he signals that he has the linebacker pre- snap he stuffs him and the running back breaks away for a free nyard game Bowers has a lot of room to grow as a blocker but I think he'll be more than serviceable in this area he displays willingness and football IQ to make a difference in the Run game it just might take him some time this ends up being an incompletion but just look at how Bow's presence affects the coverage here the Kelsey comparison is a bit misplaced in my opinion but this is a good example of how he puts pressure on defense just like Taylor Swift boy toy does he's blanketed by a linebacker underneath and a single high safety over top leaving the perimeter receiver in a one-on-one situation in the end zone the question Raider fans have to ask themselves is this does this play result in six points if it's Devonte Adams making the contested catch at the Pyon I think so the receiver choking In The End Zone on that previous play doesn't matter though the defense plays it safe playing prevent defense with all of their defensive backs lining up near the end zone they only have three down linemen here but Bowers slices through the soft Zone coverage like butter getting not only the 15 yards needed for the first down but carrying multiple Defenders for the yak this is the type of play that breaks the will of opposing teams this is what makes Bowers special this is a solid if not unspectacular block by Bowers sealing the edge for the running back to pick up the first down in a goal line situation in this very next play Bower seals up the weak side for an easy touchdown run this might not be flashy you're not going to see plays like this in other highlight films but you need to contextualize the big passing plays Bower makes with these little things that he does on other plays it poses an interesting dilemma for defensive coordinators to solve again we see why br Bowers is the best yards after catch receiver in college and that's including Marvin Harrison Jr bik neighbors and every other receiver drafted in the first round to put things into perspective Bowers had 2500 receiving yards with a whopping 47.8% of that coming after the catch Marvin Harrison Jr only had 100 more yards in his career with only 29% of them coming after the catch simply put there wasn't a bigger Mis match in the passing game in all of college football including the top receivers in the draft gorgeous back shoulder pass here for the touchdown some guys have it others don't Bowers has it Brock Bowers is a generational Prospect who has outperformed several other college tight ends who either drafted above him or would go on to have Stellar NFL careers thanks to a historic six quarterbacks being taken in the top 10 it's undeniable that the Raiders got insane value in taking him 13th overall for comparison's sake Kyle pittz was drafted fourth overall and is arguably the most athletic tight end Prospect we've ever seen drafted in the first round despite this Pitts failed to hold a match to Bowers College production Bowers is the best college tight end to ever play the game playing more like an oversized slot receiver with top end NFL speed You could argue he might be a better slot receiver than many Pros in the NFL right now posing a mismatch most defensive coordinators will have a hard time dealing with his willingness to play through injury and the rave reviews from every coach he's played with shows that he will not only be one of the best Raider players of all time but one of the best humans in the building that sets the tone on offense for years to come similar to defensive captain and franchise Cornerstone Max Crosby