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Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
HENDERSON, Nev. — Brock Bowers is in the throes of a monster yet somewhat contradictory rookie season in the NFL.
His 87 catches are second-most in the league, and with four games to play, already a single-season record for most receptions by a rookie tight end.
His 933 receiving yards are the most among all NFL tight ends.
And his four receiving touchdowns rank third among all rookies in the league, first among rookie tight ends.
Pro Bowl? Bowers is in line to potentially become the first rookie tight end in more than two decades named first-team All Pro.
All with the Raiders having already trotted out three different quarterbacks, and with Las Vegas (2-11) riding a nine-game losing streak while on pace for one of the top picks in April’s draft.
Yet, as Bowers prepares for the brightest lights on his biggest professional stage yet — a “Monday Night Football” home game against the Atlanta Falcons (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) — self-deprecation is a sort of self-defense for last spring’s No. 13 overall draft pick and one of the leading Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates.
Somehow, there are times when Bowers, oft compared to a unicorn thanks to his unique skill set, thinks he “sucks” on the field.
Seriously.
“The whole time I was telling myself, ‘Golly, what am I doing out there?'” a chagrined Bowers said after the Raiders’ heartbreaking last-second loss at the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Black Friday.
A game, mind you, in which Bowers went off for 10 catches, on 14 targets, for a career-best 140 yards and a TD.
“I mean, because that could happen then something bad could happen the next play and I’m like, ‘Dude, I suck again,'” Bowers said
“So yeah, I feel that that helps me play a little better when I think I’m not doing well because I want to do something good.”
MORE THAN A few eyebrows, and hackles, were raised when Bowers’ name was called for the Raiders in April’s draft. Tight end was far from a need for Las Vegas, which needed a right tackle, and the Raiders already had Michael Mayer, a second-round draft pick a year earlier, and veteran free agent signee Harrison Bryant under contract.
But first-year Raiders general manager Tom Telesco stuck to his philosophy and grabbed the best player available on his board.
The Raiders have not regretted turning in Bowers’ envelope. Not even a little bit.
“From the first day he walked into the building, he was just a different cat, man,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “He’s all about ball. You just see him, everything he’s doing, he’s always moving. Everything’s football-related, even just walking through the building.”
The book on Bowers, who grew up in California’s Napa Wine Country before playing his college ball in the Deep South at Georgia, was that he was no-nonsense.
Boring, almost.
And that description fit him as snugly as the two Mackey Awards he was awarded as the nation’s best tight end while also helping the Bulldogs win consecutive national championships.
Boring, it turns out, was actually fun for Bowers, who said he has not really been taken aback by much in the NFL thus far.
“Just the success I’ve had has surprised me, I don’t know,” Bowers told ESPN. “You don’t know how you’re going to do in the next level and you kind of question things. But it’s worked out so far.”
On the personal level, yes. Translating to team wins? Well…
The Raiders last won a game on Sept. 29. Bowers was averaging five catches per game when the Raiders started 2-2. He is averaging 7.4 catches in their longest losing streak since the Raiders opened the 2014 season 0-10.
As both Bowers, named the NFL’s offensive rookie of the month for November, and Pierce have acknowledged, they wish his taking over games translated into the win column.
No one in the Raiders locker room, though, need worry about his personal success overshadowing team needs.
“That’s uncommon, how he carries himself,” said left tackle Kolton Miller, the Raiders’ longest-tenured player, drafted in 2018.
“You wouldn’t expect him to just mentally to be on that next level, that competition, that competitiveness, what he’s shown. His skill level has been awesome to see, especially from a rookie.”
Jack Jones, as a cornerback, doesn’t go up against Bowers in practice much, but he likes what he’s seen on Sundays. Scratch that, he loves it.
“With his production in the games, that s–t speaks for itself,” Jones said with a laugh. “He’s breaking stats, making history, making plays, helping us win, helping us try to win. So I mean, s–t, hats off to him.
“Dude’s got some nice hands, man. He catches some difficult passes and he makes difficult passes look easy. Not everybody could do that, especially at his size.”
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Bowers is more graceful than plodding, more gazelle in the open field than a stampeding buffalo.
But, as Pierce said, “he’s a receiver when the ball is in the air, and when he has a ball in his hand, he’s punishing people” like a running back.
All while showing the veterans in the locker room how to comport himself.
“I just like watching him, man,” receiver Jakobi Meyers said.
“I hope when I have kids, I hope they kind of just move somewhat like him. I’m telling you, he don’t complain. He don’t cry. He don’t ask for the ball. He just goes and makes the plays that come his way. Good dude.”
The last rookie tight end named first-team All-Pro?
Jeremy Shockey, who caught 74 passes for 894 yards and two touchdowns for the New York Giants in 2002, following in the footsteps of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Keith Jackson (1988) and Charle Young (1973).
Pierce was teammates with Shockey on the Giants and while he sees some similarities, Bowers is different, Pierce said.
And Pierce, who played linebacker in the NFL for nine years, would not like the assignment of covering Bowers, even as he had to shadow Shockey in practice.
“I’ll point to the guy next to me,” Pierce joked. “I’ll go look for a single digit or one of them DBs.”
Of late, opponents have been putting their best cornerbacks on Bowers, from the Denver Broncos‘ Pat Surtain II to the Miami Dolphins ‘ Jalen Ramsey to the Chiefs ‘ Trent McDuffie.
“They’re not putting really too many linebackers on him throughout the game and now, we’re seeing double-teams and them really shifting their zone to him,” Pierce said. “And to be honest, I don’t really think it matters. I think we’ve got a really special player on our hands.
“This kid is all fight. I just love it. And he’s the same guy every day. We get off the plane, he’s got his black shorts and his black T- shirt on and he’s ready to roll and get ready for work the next day.”
BEFORE HE MADE a business decision of his own in forcing his trade to the New York Jets, wide receiver Davante Adams took a shine to the quiet rookie, calling Bowers “Business Man” because Bowers was all business, on and off the field.
Interestingly enough, Bowers will return to Georgia this offseason to finish his degree in business/real estate.
Bowers has football business to tend to with the Raiders, starting against the Falcons and continuing with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers.
If he catches six passes against the Falcons, Bowers surpasses Michael Thomas for the fourth-most receptions in a season by a rookie in NFL history (Puka Nacua set the rookie mark with 105 catches for the Los Angeles Rams last season).
If he finishes with at least 67 receiving yards against the Falcons, Bowers joins Mike Ditka (1,076 yards in 1961) and Kyle Pitts (1,026 yards in 2021) as the only rookie tight ends with a 1,000-yard receiving season.
Bowers is on pace for 114 catches, which would be a single-season franchise record, and 1,220 receiving yards, which would be No. 2 all time among Raiders tight ends.
All of that, though, will sort itself out, he said.
“Just focusing on the next day helps,” he said. “You’re just kind of focused on the next thing, instead of the big picture. It kind of helps you lock in and do what you can do.
“It’s football, it’s fun. It’s fun being around the guys, fun in the locker room. And I mean, we try to have as much fun as we can, but we’re trying to stay locked in and win games, too. And that’s been tough.”
Especially in an historically contradictory season.
