The Lone Bright Spot on the Raiders Offense

Ryan Wilson is a sports writer for CBS Sports, and he wrote an article regrading all of the first-round picks made in the 2024 NFL draft two seasons into their career. The Raiders selected Brock Bowers with the 13th overall pick, and he was an immediate success. Wilson could give them no less than an A+ for their home run selection.

"It's not even an exaggeration to say that Bowers was one of the best non-quarterbacks in the league in 2024. And had there been a redraft, no one would have faulted, say, the Cardinals for taking Bowers over Harrison with the fourth-overall pick", said Wilson.

The Raiders have gotten immense value from their mid-rounder, and it showed that it pays off to wait. They desperately needed a quarterback in this draft class, but instead of reaching on a prospect that didn't deserve to be taken in the first round, they took the best player available, and it's worked out fabulously for them.

"Bowers has battled a knee injury for much of the 2025 season (he suffered it in the opener vs. the Patriots), but as he works his way back to full health, he's again proven how important he is to an otherwise hard-to-watch Raiders offense".

While Bowers hasn't been able to replicate the success of his Offensive Rookie of the Year finalist season, he does have at least two games this season with more than 100 yards. Surprisingly, Bowers has only caught three touchdowns so far, and they all came from one game. As of now, Bowers and Ashton Jeanty should be the only offensive players the Raiders think about moving forward with.

Bowers has shown that he's their best offensive weapon time and time again, but it's hard to get him going with middling quarterback play and constant double teams. Hopefully, with the firing of Kelly, the Raiders go back to the drawing board and feed him the ball, as they should've been doing all along.