Brock Bowers shares surprising Raiders draft story

It is odd to call a player drafted 13th overall as a steal, but that is exactly what the Las Vegas Raiders got in Brock Bowers.

From a pure talent standpoint, the Georgia tight end was a bona fide top-five selection. However, positional value took hold, and Bowers slid down the board as six quarterbacks were selected with the top 12 picks. Despite being the definitive best player available, Bowers would have to wait a bit for his name to be called.

Then, on draft night, the call that Bowers ultimately got was one he did not see coming.

Bowers admitted that he did not know about the Raiders’ interest in him.

According to Raiders team writer Levi Edwards, Bowers went on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast to discuss what it was like getting the call from the team.

“It’s actually kind of funny, it’s always like the team you least expect to pick you,” Bowers said.

“I didn’t talk to them a ton, I talked to other teams a lot more and then all of a sudden I’m sitting there on draft night and I get a call. Me and my agent are talking and Las Vegas isn’t even in the picture really. … All of a sudden I get a call and it says Las Vegas, Nevada.

“I said, ‘Should I pick this up?’ and he said, ‘Hell yeah pick it up!'”

The Raiders were not seen as a candidate for Bowers due to drafting Michael Mayer a year earlier, but the decision to take the best player available paid off in spades.

Bowers went on to break numerous rookie records in his first season in the NFL, posting 112 receptions for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. In a normal year, those are numbers that would have locked up Offensive Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, the excellent play of Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels gave him the nod for the award over Bowers.

It has not deterred the second-year tight end, however, and he now his sights set on improving his game with better infrastructure now surrounding him.

“I’m just really big into winning every single rep and like trying to do that in the offseason,” Bowers said. “During OTAs I’m trying to do that and just pisses me off when I don’t do that. So, it just pushes me to get better in every single facet I think. Because I feel like there’s not one thing I did great, but not one thing I did super duper bad. I’m just trying to elevate everything.”