Aug 23, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly (left) with head coach Pete Carroll against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason NFL game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Putting Brock Bowers' Importance to Raiders into Perspective

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Ezekiel Trezevant | Last updated Nov 16, 2025 8:00 AM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders' offensive issues are multifaceted. However, one thing is clear, the Raiders have talent they can build around. Las Vegas had a generational offensive talent fall into their lap a few offseasons ago. Moving forward, they must make good use of him.

Raiders' Biggest Issue

The Raiders have arguably the best tight end in the National Football League in Bowers, and it may not be very arguable when Bowers is healthy. Las Vegas' offense looks significantly different with a healthy Bowers in the lineup, even when he does not get the ball.

Bowers' mere presence on the field is enough to force defenses to game plan differently for the Raiders' offense. Without Bowers, the Raiders' offense is a shell of itself, as the offensive Kelly has installed in Las Vegas is heavily based around Bowers, and tight end Michael Mayer.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Heading into the Raiders' Week 12 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, Raiders Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly noted how things changed without Bowers in the lineup. Kelly also explained how although Bowers' injury was unfortunate, every team in the league is dealing with injuries.

"It is, it's just the NFL though. I think everybody understands that. I don't think there's anybody in the league right now that hasn't lost players that were starters for them. That's just the nature of the game we play, and you have to be able to adjust and adapt. Your depth is going to get tested at all times. And so you just have to adjust to it.

“You don't sit there and say, 'Boy, I wish we had him.' We'd love to have Brock [Bowers] in every game. We'd love to have Kolton Miller in every game. I think people forget what an integral player he was. He was playing as good as any offensive tackle in the league before he got injured, so that's the shuffling that goes on there.

“But it's part of it, and I think I'll give our players a ton of credit. They've done a great job adjusting. And, 'Hey, we've got to do this.' And really, you'd like to say from a week-to-week basis we're building and growing in this direction, but when you lose a player all of a sudden, the offense has to change slightly, because there's a newer player in and you're trying to play to his strengths and maybe hide his weaknesses as opposed to another player.

“This player may have excelled at this, and that was a big part of the game plan. Well now that he's out, you've got to kind of morph to a different thing. Even though we'd really like to continue to do that, I don't know if we can do that, because we don't have that player at that position."

This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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