NFL Exec Says Raiders Panicked With Brock Bowers Draft Pick

The Las Vegas Raiders almost surely entered the NFL Draft with the intention of taking a quarterback in the first round. Instead, they ended up with a tight end.

The Raiders settled for University of Georgia star Brock Bowers with the 13th overall pick, and while some feel he is the best player in this draft class, he didn’t feel a pressing need for Las Vegas.

An NFL executive has told Mike Sando of The Athletic that the Raiders essentially panicked when they saw six quarterbacks fly of the board before they were on the clock.

“I think they were stuck once Atlanta took (Michael) Penix and they were like, ‘Oh, crap, we might not get a quarterback to fall to us,’ and they scrambled and took that kid,” the exec said. “He is a good player, but a luxury item. I don’t like those kinds of picks unless you have everything else.”

The Atlanta Falcons shocked pretty much everyone when they decided to take Penix with the eighth overall pick, as they had just signed Kirk Cousins in free agency.

There were still two more top quarterback prospects available after the Falcons selected Penix, but J.J. McCarthy went to the Minnesota Vikings at No. 10, and Bo Nix went to the Denver Broncos one pick ahead of Las Vegas.

Obviously, there were other signal-callers remaining, but none that were worthy of a first-round selection. As a matter of fact, after Nix, there were no other quarterbacks taken until the fifth round, when the New Orleans Saints chose Spencer Rattler.

The Raiders used their 2023 second-round pick on a tight end, selecting Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer. Mayer had an underwhelming rookie campaign, catching 27 passes for 304 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but that may have had more to do with Las Vegas’ shaky quarterback situation than anything else.

Bowers is certainly a better prospect than Mayer. Some even consider him a generational talent. But with the Raiders having issues under center, you have to wonder if he will be able to flourish in Sin City.

We’ll see if Brock Bowers can establish himself as a superstar for the Raiders. They better hope he can.