I will be interested to see what the Raiders do with Brock Bowers. They selected him with the 13th pick (despite already having a young, up-and-coming tight end) so clearly they think he’s something special.
But the Raiders are a lesser team with other proven pass catchers. Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers are accomplished receivers. (And I actually like two of their other supporting players – Tre Tucker and Michael Mayer.) They’ve got journeyman Gardner Minshew (behind a lesser offensive line) trying to sew it all together.
Minshew had some success jamming in balls to Michael Pittman last year, but I’m not excited about the overall lay of the land. That leaves me feeling Bowers is more likely to emerge in a future season.
He appeared only briefly in the preseason, playing early at Minnesota. He didn’t do anything too dramatic in that game, but they were moving him around, making it seem like he’ll be a guy who’ll be seeing some balls.
As for tossing Bowers in a Week 1 lineup, that would be a wild stab in the dark. In the 32-team era, 63 tight ends have been drafted in the first or second round. Only five of those guys scored in their first game, and only four finished with double-digit points in PPR leagues (tagged with black dots).
FIRST GAMES FOR TIGHT ENDS PICKED EARLY | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Pk | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | PPR |
2002 | Jeremy Shockey, NYG | 14 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 0 | 7.4 |
2002 | Jerramy Stevens, Sea. | 28 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 4.8 |
2002 | Doug Jolley, Oak. | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2002 | Daniel Graham, N.E. | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2003 | Dallas Clark, Ind. | 24 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 2.8 |
2003 | Bennie Joppru, Hou. | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2003 | L.J. Smith , Phil. | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2003 | Teyo Johnson, Oak. | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2004 | Kellen Winslow, Clev. | 6 | 6 | 4 | 39 | 0 | 7.9 |
2004 | Benjamin Watson, N.E. | 32 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 3.6 |
2004 | Ben Troupe, Tenn. | 40 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 3.2 |
2004 | Kris Wilson, K.C. | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2005 | Heath Miller, Pitt. | 30 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7.3 |
2006 | • Vernon Davis, S.F. | 6 | 8 | 5 | 37 | 1 | 14.7 |
2006 | Tony Scheffler, Den. | 61 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1.9 |
2006 | Marcedes Lewis, Jac. | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2006 | Anthony Fasano, Dall. | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2006 | Joe Klopfenstein, St.L. | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2007 | Zach Miller, Oak. | 38 | 6 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 5.3 |
2007 | Greg Olsen, Chi. | 31 | 2 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 4.8 |
2008 | John Carlson, Sea. | 38 | 4 | 4 | 52 | 0 | 9.2 |
2008 | Fred Davis, Wash. | 48 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1.6 |
2008 | Martellus Bennett, Dall. | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2008 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2009 | Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2009 | Richard Quinn, Den. | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2010 | • Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | 21 | 10 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 14.5 |
2010 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 42 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.1 |
2011 | Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 47 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 2.8 |
2011 | Kyle Rudolph, Minn. | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2012 | • Coby Fleener, Ind. | 34 | 10 | 6 | 82 | 0 | 14.2 |
2013 | Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 21 | 5 | 5 | 47 | 0 | 9.7 |
2013 | Vance McDonald, S.F. | 55 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 3.5 |
2013 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 35 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 2.1 |
2013 | Gavin Escobar, Dall. | 47 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1.7 |
2014 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins, T.B. | 38 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 3.6 |
2014 | Jace Amaro, NYJ | 49 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2.7 |
2014 | Eric Ebron, Det. | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2014 | Troy Niklas, Ariz. | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2015 | Maxx Williams, Balt. | 55 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 2.5 |
2016 | Hunter Henry , S.D. | 35 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 3.0 |
2017 | Evan Engram, NYG | 23 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 0 | 8.4 |
2017 | Gerald Everett, LAR | 44 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 0 | 4.9 |
2017 | David Njoku, Clev. | 29 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 4.0 |
2017 | O.J. Howard, T.B. | 19 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 2.7 |
2017 | Adam Shaheen, Chi. | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2018 | Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 42 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 2.1 |
2018 | Hayden Hurst, Balt. | 25 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1.7 |
2018 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 49 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1.4 |
2019 | • T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 8 | 9 | 6 | 131 | 1 | 25.1 |
2019 | Noah Fant, Den. | 20 | 4 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 4.9 |
2019 | Drew Sample, Cin. | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2019 | Irv Smith Jr., Minn. | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2020 | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 43 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2021 | Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 4 | 8 | 4 | 31 | 0 | 7.1 |
2021 | Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 55 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 3.4 |
2022 | Trey McBride, Ariz. | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2023 | Sam LaPorta, Det. | 34 | 5 | 5 | 39 | 0 | 8.9 |
2023 | Luke Musgrave, G.B. | 42 | 4 | 3 | 50 | 0 | 8.0 |
2023 | Dalton Kincaid, Buff. | 25 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 0 | 6.6 |
2023 | Brenton Strange, Jac. | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2023 | Luke Schoonmaker, Dall. | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2023 | Michael Mayer, L.V. | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
2024 | Brock Bowers, L.V. | 13 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan