There was no shortage of teams interested in drafting former Georgia tight end Brock Bowers but not many saw the Las Vegas Raiders as suitors. They used a second-round pick to take Michael Mayer just a year ago and there were far bigger needs on the roster.
It was a surprise when Las Vegas ultimately took him at No. 13 and it seemed to catch some teams off guard. It was previously known that the Los Angeles Rams were ready to trade up for Bowers once he slid in the first round and now another team that wanted to trade up has been leaked. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Indianapolis Colts were hoping to land the tight end.
“The Colts, I believe, were really interested in Brock Bowers,” Schefter said on the August 1 episode of “Pat McAfee Show.” “I think there were two teams that attempted to go up in the draft to try and go get Brock Bowers and that was the Colts and the Rams.
“Both teams were trying to get up there to get Bowers and they couldn’t do it. They kept trying and just didn’t happen. So, I think that was a play that interested both those franchises.”
The Raiders likely could’ve traded down and landed some good draft capital had they not taken Bowers so they must be really high on what he can do to turn down valuable assets for a player they didn’t necessarily need.
“The Colts were really interested in trying to trade up and get Brock Bowers..
Chris Ballard knows talent as good as anybody and they were happy to get Laiatu Latu..
They’re gonna really need him this season and he’s a great player” ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive
Las Vegas Raiders TE Room Sticking Together
With the addition of Bowers, the Raiders now have two starting-caliber tight ends. This will likely lead to the team utilizing 12-personnel quite a bit. Mayer could’ve been upset about the Bowers addition but he’s taking it in stride.
“If you’re running a lot of 12-personnel, the Y and the F have to communicate or it’s never going to work out,” Mayer said during his July 29 media availability. “And look, I mean, the first day Brock got there in the spring, I told him, ‘Dude, look, we’re in this thing together now. We got to talk, we got to communicate, it’s not going to work out if we don’t.’ So, yeah, we’re out there talking all the time.”
Mayer is more of a traditional tight end while Bowers is somebody who can line up all over the field. Both should get plenty of chances to put up big numbers.
Luke Getsy Talks Brock Bowers
New offensive coordinator Luke Getsy isn’t inheriting the best quarterback situation but he does have a lot of weapons to work with. He didn’t think the Raiders would be able to land Bowers but he’s happy that they did.
“Watching the film, I think it stands out. We weren’t sure he was going to make it to us,” Getsy told The Athletic in an August 2 interview. “For whatever it is, the perspective of the (tight end) position in the draft has kind of been fuzzy. So that was probably our fortune that people were willing to say no to such a high-caliber player.”
Bowers is the type of player that allows playcallers to be very creative so it’ll be interesting to see what Getsy can cook up.
