The Las Vegas Raiders quarterbacks talk about Brock Bowers often. They are just as amazed by the rookie tight end’s ability to get yards after the catch as everyone else.
“He has a feel about him,” said Aidan O’Connell, who broke his thumb in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams. “It’s like when you watch film from the sideline, you can see everyone around you. It kind of looks like he can see from that view.”
Bowers had 10 catches for 93 yards Sunday and is one of the few bright spots for a 2-5 Raiders team that hosts the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. He seemingly has a plan as soon as he catches the ball, and possesses the quickness and strength to get past defenders immediately when he turns upfield. Bowers leads all tight ends in yards after catch with 251 yards and ranks third among all receivers and tight ends entering Monday night’s games, per TruMedia. (The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin ranks first with 324 yards, with the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase second with 281.)
“Brock knows the different places he needs to be — it’s pretty special,” O’Connell said. “Only a few guys have that, and he’s one of them. So, it’s really fun to watch.”
All right Brock, what’s the secret? He’s been running away from tacklers since he was a star at Napa High and was then option No. 1 while winning national titles at Georgia. How does he do it?
GO DEEPER
Brock Bowers’ unlikely road to becoming the Raiders’ first-round pick
“I really don’t know,” Bowers said Friday, smiling. “It’s just kind of always been there, just touch the ball and run with it. It’s really just reactionary. It’s not like I am watching film and analyzing what I should do or what I did do that worked.
“It’s really just seeing things on the move well. I am also able to keep my balance when I am hit, and that does come from training, but otherwise, I don’t really have a secret. Just get it and go.”
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Bowers is the first rookie tight end in NFL history with eight or more catches in three straight games, and with 47 catches he passed Amari Cooper (38) for the most receptions in Raiders history among players in their first seven career games. That’s also the most catches in NFL history by a tight end through his first seven games. He would have more than 477 yards but two impressive deep catches were erased by penalties.
Bowers said he sees the social media posts about his accomplishments but shrugs them off.
“I would rather be winning games,” Bowers said Sunday afternoon.
Raiders rookie Brock Bowers’ 47 receptions through his first seven career games are most among TEs in NFL historyhttps://t.co/neSPNCt1oH pic.twitter.com/LS3AzYciD6
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) October 21, 2024
“He is as consistent as they come, man,” quarterback Gardner Minshew II said Sunday. “He’s always in the right place doing what he’s supposed to do. We’re putting a lot on him for a rookie too man, so hats off to him. Super happy to have him on our team and excited for what he’s going to be.”
Like an effective post basketball player in the paint, there is no wasted movement with Bowers.
“He understands spacing and has awareness of what’s going on around him,” offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said Thursday. “When he catches the ball and he knows he has space, there’s no time spent figuring it out. There’s no bubble around it. It’s catch, drop, step, get vertical and go.
“He catches checkdowns and they’re turning into explosive plays. And that awareness of space and the people around you is something special that not everybody has, but he has it. And on top, there’s the toughness part of it. I think that part of it is probably the most important.”
Brocktoberrrr 😤#LVvsDEN | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/7XRLrMldbf
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 6, 2024
The 6-foot-5 Bowers was a pretty good basketball player growing up, so maybe he had good court vision that translated to football …
“Nah,” Bowers said. “I wasn’t a big passer.”
The balancing work and weightlifting in the gym have definitely helped, but Bowers said he was able to “know my way and stay on my feet” way back in youth football.
Maybe it was just in the genes. His mom, DeAnna, was an All-American softball player at Utah State, while his dad Warren was an All-Big West center on the football team there.
“They are also super competitive, maybe that’s part of it,” Bowers said.
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Teammates have been asking him his secret to breaking free downfield since he was in high school, 7-on-7 tournaments and then college.
“And I tell them that I have no clue,” Bowers said. “I just catch the ball and run with it.”
Raiders running back Zamir White was one such teammate at Georgia.
“He just has that inkling of how to get open and get downfield, and we saw it the first day of practice at Georgia,” White said. “It just comes natural to him, so people stopped asking about how he did it and just enjoyed the show.”
(Photo: Robert Hanashiro / Imagn Images)
