Raiders boast two of best recent college tight ends in the country
The Las Vegas Raiders’ selection of Georgia tight end Brock Bowers with the No. 13 overall pick in the April draft was a surprise for many reasons.
One of those reasons, of course, was Bowers wasn’t expected to be available that low in the draft, but the big run on six quarterback win the first 12 picks, dropped Bowers into the Raiders’ lap.
Another reason why the Bowers’ pick was surprising was that the Raiders previous regime traded to draft Michael Mayer out of Notre Dame with the No. 35 overall pick in 2023.
Both Bowers and Mayer were among the most decorated college tight ends in recent memory. Now, they are teammates and the Raiders showed in training camp that they plan on using both stellar tight ends often.
Let’s look at what the Raiders are getting from these college stars:
BOWERS:
He won the 2022 and ‘23 John Mackey Award that goes to the best tight end in college football. He was an unanimous Al-America in 2023 and made several All-America teams in 2022 and in 2021 as a freshman who didn’t play his senior season of high school in Napa, California because the season was cancelled due to COVID.
MAYER:
The Kentucky native started for the Fighting Irish in 2020 as a freshman. He was a third-team All-American in 2021 and in 2022, he became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in tight end receptions and he made several All-America teams.