Raiders Draft 2024: Brock Bowers a textbook example of BPA at No. 13

Georgia tight end adds a versatile weapon and puts pressure on Luke Getsy to have a creative and productive offense

Best. Player. Available.

The Las Vegas Raiders selection of Georgia tight end Brock Bowers at No. 13 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft is a textbook example of just that.

The consensus No. 1 player at the position group was the best player available (BPA) on general manager Tom Telesco’s draft board and the Silver & Black decision maker pounced.

Bower’s selection by the Raiders came as a surprise on two fronts.

The first: That he was even available at No. 13 to be plucked from the prospect pool by Las Vegas to begin with. The Napa native was in the top 10 on numerous Top 100 rankings — as high as No. 5 and 7 on some lists — and to have the opportunity to select a prospect of that caliber in the teens was a shock. The second: Tight end wasn’t necessarily a need spot for Las Vegas. The previous regime traded up in the second round of the 2023 draft to snag Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer and he showed plenty of promise this past season.

I postulated earlier in the week that if BPA is truly one of Telesco’s draft tenets as a GM and roster builder, then incumbents be damned. I used the example of if UCLA pass rusher Laiatu Latu is there for the taking and he’s atop the Raiders’ draft board, even with elite Maxx Crosby and promising Malcolm Koonce and Tyree Wilson in tow, BPA dictates you take Latu. Interestingly enough, Latu was available when Las Vegas was on he clock, but the pick was the Georgia tight end, instead.

According to Telesco, everyone in the Raiders draft room bought into the selection.

“With the scouting staff, where they had him, what they thought about him, what the coaching staff thought, he was really a consensus guy,” the general manager said on Thursday. “He’s got some natural football skills, combined with some high level athletic ability and speed. We’ll be really happy to have him.”

Bowers arrival in the desert gives Raiders offensive coordinator Luke Getsy a versatile weapon. Yes, the Georgia product is listed as a tight end. Yet the 6-foot-3, 243-pounder was moved all along the Bulldogs’ offense to maximize matchups and get Bowers the ball as much as possible. He lined up at the traditional tight end spots but was also in the backfield as an H-back and on the perimeter and interior at outside and slot where wide receivers are normally found.

In 40 career games at Georgia, Bowers hauled in 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns. His highwater mark in receptions and yards came in 2022 when he had 63 catches for 942 yards and his career-best touchdown catches was in 2021 with 13. Of those stats, Bowers etched himself in Georgia’s record books as No. 2 in career touchdown grabs, No. 3 in receptions, and No. 4 in receiving yards.

Bowers also has 19 career rushes under his belt for 193 yards and five touchdowns. His most work as a ball carrier was in 2022 with nine carries for 109 yards and three scores.

A combination of size and speed, Bowers has the balance and power to go with keen route running ability making him a yards after catch generator. His comfort in lining up where ever the team needs him should bode well for Bowers in Las Vegas. And that’s just Bowers as a receiver. He’s not a shabby blocking tight end, either.

Thus, the pressure is on Getsy to have a creative and productive offense.

The weaponry at his disposal in wide receivers Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, along with tight ends Mayer and Bowers gives Getsy flexibility to keep opposing defenses off balanced with unpredictability — if the play caller chooses to go that route.

While Bower’s addition is being dubbed a luxury selection — and for good reason — a valid argument can be made that the Raiders are not a paragon of quality depth, thus, “luxury” shouldn’t even be in the vocabulary when talking about the Silver & Black.

Will this pick work out?

Time will most certainly tell, but the selection of Bower — a highly rated prospect — was a fascinating departure for the need picks the Raiders are so good at making (and that eventually flopped).