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Notre Dame recruited NFL All-Pro and former Georgia star Brock Bowers at a position you never would have thought of

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Ryan Roberts | Last updated Jul 15, 2025 12:58 PM ET

Las Vegas Raiders star tight end Brock Bowers is coming off a rookie season for the record books. In 17 games, the former Georgia Bulldog legend managed to haul in 112 receptions for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. Those totals for receptions and receiving yards were both rookie records for the tight end position.

For those who saw Bowers while at the University of Georgia, having NFL success shouldn’t have been much of a surprise, although rewriting the record books probably wouldn’t have been in many predictions. During his three years in Athens, the 6-4, 243-pound pass catcher managed to collect 175 receptions for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns, adding another 193 yards and five scores on the ground.

Bowers finished that career as a multi-year All-American, Mackey Award winner, and two national championships on his resume.

Originally out of Napa (Calif.) High School, Bowers was considered the No. 59 overall player and No. 2 tight end in the 2021 recruiting class according to the 247Sports ranking. Bowers chose the Bulldogs over Notre Dame, Oregon, Michigan, LSU, Tennessee, USC and Washington among many others.

While the Fighting Irish did offer Bowers, it turns out that it actually wasn’t to play tight end. On the latest episode of Bussin with the Boys, Bowers spoke to Taylor Lewan and Will Compton about his recruitment. That included the opportunity to play on the defensive side of the football.

During that conversation, Bowers said that Notre Dame actually offered him to play outside linebacker, not tight end. That was the only program that Bowers mentioned as pursuing him on the defensive side of the football. That isn’t the first time we have heard about the Fighting Irish making some interesting position pushes for certain players.

That includes wanting Ezekiel Elliot as a defensive back, AJ Dillon as a linebacker, and Paulson Adebo as a wide receiver. Those evaluations can be extremely detrimental in a recruitment.

In that 2021 recruiting class, Notre Dame ended up signing Mitchell Evans and Cane Berrong at tight end. While Evans was a good producer for the Fighting Irish when healthy, comparing him to someone like Bowers just isn’t fair. Between those two, they have managed to haul in 89 receptions for 1,048 yards and six touchdowns in their college careers.

Berrong didn’t record a reception during his time in South Bend, but did so for Coastal Carolina in 2024.

You know what’s better than having Michael Mayer at tight end for Notre Dame? Having Mayer and Bowers potentially together. There’s no guarantee that Bowers would have ended up with the Irish in the end, but they gave themselves zero chance after a poor early evaluation.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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