Bowers is far and away the top tight end in this year’s class, and rivals any of the tight end prospects of the past decade.
Tight end is a hard position to gauge in the draft, and the chatter around the league seems to have Bowers sliding further than he should. There are a couple of teams outside the top 10 that are praying that these rumblings are true, but Bowers is an A+ level prospect and has the possibility of being the next great talent at the position.
Brock Bowers – TE Georgia
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 243 lbs
Year: Junior
Age: 21.3
NFL Player Comparison: Dallas Clark with more explosiveness
Brock Bowers is skilled enough to be a top 5 pick in this year’s draft. However, due to the contractual value of drafting a wide receiver, offensive lineman or edge rusher early on, he’s the most likely pass catcher in his class to drop in the draft. Positional value aside, I actually have Bowers nestled between Nabers and Odunze overall on my big board. That’s in no way a knock on Odunze, but Bowers is just that good. He might take a while to endear himself to fans in his new city off of the field – I think he’s spoken maybe 4 words per month throughout his entire college career – but you can be sure they’ll quickly become enamored with him on the field.
While he may be soft spoken, Bowers is a rugged and aggressive pass catcher with a muscular frame and incredible short area quickness. He spent his time in Georgia moving all over the formations. He lined up in the slot on 40% of his snaps and spent another 11% out wide in 2023, creating mismatches and absolute chaos for opposing defences.
Bowers comes from a family of athletes. His mother was inducted into the Utah State hall of fame as an All-American softball pitcher and first baseman, while his father was an all-conference centre along the offensive line. The family athleticism took center stage in 2019 when Bowers ran a 4.5 40 yard dash at the Nike Sparq camp. A performance that put him on the collegiate recruitment map. He went from one scholarship offer prior to that camp to fielding over 20 offers to div 1 schools – including some that wanted to try him out as a linebacker due to his size and athleticism. He chose to commit to Georgia, and under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, Bowers became a 3 year starter and a featured offensive weapon for the Bulldogs.
Bowers gets off of the line smoothly and is a special athlete for his size. He has an innate ability to set up his routes with his sharp footwork and deceptive head nods and can accelerate out of his breaks at a rate that fools even the most veteran of defenders. He ended his college career with a minuscule 4.4% drop rate and he possesses above average pass catching skills, with no problem catching the ball well outside of his frame. He can adjust his body in the air to catch the ball clean, and is an absolute menace after the catch. Bowers has the speed to evade defenders and the competitive spirit to drive through would be tacklers at the second level of defences. He can win on seam routes, but was also utilized quite often in the short game. The 21 year old is more than capable of executing a TE screen, and even added 183 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground throughout his college career as a rusher, mainly on jet sweeps.
I cannot stress enough how much of a competitor and warrior Bowers is. He was flown to Vegas for an event, and when asked what he was doing after his obligations were done he simply said heading back to the airport to get back to work as every day spent not training would be a detriment to his career. How many 21 year olds do you know that wouldn’t take advantage of a free trip to Sin City? In 2023, he suffered a grade 3 pedal ankle sprain and had tightrope ankle surgery, which normally comes with a recovery time of 4-6 weeks. He missed just 2 games. Kirby Smart sums it up perfectly: “Agents called him and told him to sit out the season after the injury. Those people will not be representing him, I promise you that, because all it did was piss him off.”
If you need to find some criticisms of Bowers, it’s obviously his lack of size to become a high level in line blocker at the NFL level. He still has time to grow, but he’ll likely play his entire career at around 245 lbs and could lack the power and length to get away from the NFL’s elite edge rushers. He shows a willingness to block in space, but can certainly work on his breakdowns before reaching the defender as he’s often seen lunging towards them to engage.
Frankly, that’s just nitpicking. Anyone who drafts Brock Bowers shouldn’t be using him in the blocking game as anything more than a decoy. He led the Georgia Bulldogs in receiving in each of his three seasons, and is a three time all American and a two time John Mackey award winner as the nation’s top tight end. He’s a home run threat anytime he gets the ball in his hands. Bowers has the route running ability and pass catching prowess to make life easy on his quarterback. He’s a matchup nightmare, an athletic freak, and a competitive, dedicated worker that can become the top tight end in the NFL if he’s utilized properly by his new coach and coordinator.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant