Brock Bowers recognized by NFL personnel with huge honor

It is rare for a NFL player who just completed his rookie season to already be labeled the best at his position.

In most cases, it is difficult to make an immediate case off of such a limited body of work, with analysts usually holding off on such comments until later on in the player’s career. Some, such as Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, build cases early on to suggest that they were worth the hype. However, most are usually left off when mentioning young players amongst the league’s elite.

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, however, has proven to be a special case.

Bowers accomplished something no rookie in the NFL has ever done.

In ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler’s lists of the top ten players at each position, Bowers ranked first amongst all tight ends. Not only did he rank higher than bigger household names such as Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs) and George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers), but he is also the first rookie to hold the top spot in any of ESPN’s lists.

“Among his Year 1 records: most receiving yards by a rookie tight end in NFL history (1,194), most receptions by a rookie at any position (112) and most receptions by any player in a single season in Raiders history,” wrote Fowler.

Keep in mind that Bowers was able to accomplish this with Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell throwing him the ball, as well as a nonexistent running game backing him up. Despite emerging as a threat for opposing defenses to key in on, Bowers was still able to smash all kinds of franchise and league records in his rookie year. With improvements at both spots, Bowers may only have just scratched the surface of his potential, which is a scary thought for the rest of the NFL.

“Great person, hard worker, instinctive, great hands, matchup problem due to his speed and athleticism with elite [run after catch] ability,” an anonymous NFC executive said on Bowers, per Fowler.

Bowers heads into his sophomore season with high expectations, so Raiders fans will be hoping for an encore this time around.