How Raiders' Young Star Shined in Week 1

There were some highs and lows in this game, with Geno Smith's Raider debut being a resounding success, throwing for more than 350 yards and being in control of their offense. Ashton Jeanty's NFL debut didn't quite go as well, but he's still a rookie trying to get accustomed to NFL competition, so it's not time for Raider Nation to panic yet.

Young Star

One of the brightest spots of their offense was undoubtedly second-year player Brock Bowers. With just five receptions, he was able to gain 103 yards, the longest going for 38 yards. It looks like he's picked up right where he left off after a historic rookie season, and he has the potential to be their best player on offense.

Greg Auman is a sports writer for FOX Sports, and he compiled a team of all the top performers in the NFL after week one. For his third end, he selected none other than Bowers after the dominant performance he had against the Patriots' secondary.

"None of the tight ends who caught touchdown passes had more than 30 receiving yards, so we’ll yield to last year’s rookie phenom, who had five catches for 103 yards in the Raiders’ impressive win over the Patriots", said Auman.

His production is even more impressive when taking into account that he suffered a knee injury in this game and had to leave. Thankfully for Raider Nation, the injury doesn't look to be anything serious, but imagine how much more dominant a game he would've had if he stayed healthy throughout.

"Brock Bowers had catches of 30 and 38 yards after getting a 23-yard catch on Geno Smith’s very first pass with the Raiders. Can he possibly top his high-volume debut last year? It shouldn't be ruled out just yet".

Bowers has already quickly become a favorite target of Smith's, and if that chemistry continues to build, they can be a top-five quarterback-tight end duo in the NFL. Bowers shone brightly in the Raiders' season opener, and they'll continue to need him to put up impressive stat lines if they want to keep the wins coming.