Raiders' Brock Bowers Makes History in Latest ESPN Rankings

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Levi Dombro | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 3:52 PM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders selected Georgia tight end Brock Bowers with the No. 13 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. While many looked down upon the choice at first, Bowers went on to have a historic rookie campaign in Las Vegas.

Bowers broke numerous franchise, rookie and NFL records with his 112 catches for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns last season. He did this despite catching passes from three different quarterbacks, none of whom are projected to be starters in 2025.

Heading into this season, prospects are even higher for Bowers as he finally has a capable quarterback in Geno Smith. The Raiders' offense has several improved offensive pieces around Bowers as well, so life should be easier for the second-year tight end.

On Friday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler compiled a list of the top 10 tight ends in the league for the 2025 season. He polled NFL executives, coaches and scouts, and Bowers landed at No. 1 among his peers and made a bit of history with the ranking.

"Bowers makes history in our Top 10 poll -- he's the first player to rank No. 1 at his position after his rookie year," Fowler wrote. "Bowers, however, narrowly outdistanced Kittle in the polls after earning more than 50% of the first-place votes."

Dethroning players like George Kittle and Travis Kelce is an impressive feat, as these two have traded off being First-Team and Second-Team All-Pros for the last eight or so years. The perception around the league, however, is that Bowers has already surpassed them.

"Great person, hard worker, instinctive, great hands, matchup problem due to his speed and athleticism with elite [run after catch] ability," an NFC executive said.

While the executives in the league are surely kicking themselves for not taking Bowers in last year's draft, coordinators are busy gameplanning for him and figuring out how to prevent him from wrecking the game when they face him.

"He sort of just floats around out there. Game comes naturally to him," another NFL coordinator added.

Bowers and the Raiders begin their 2025 campaign on the road against the New England Patriots in Week 1.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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