The Las Vegas Raiders got a big performance from their tight end against New Orleans, and he got noticed.
We’ve heard a lot about multi-usage tight ends in the last few years in the NFL, but very few actually fit the description. Most tight ends who get this label are capitalizing on designed mismatches, and their inability to be actual receivers quickly gets exposed when they get out in the open field.
Not Brock Bowers. Ben Solak of ESPN did a gushing piece about the Las Vegas Raiders tight end in which he compared the tight end to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, which is embarrassing, but he did make some intriguing points in his quasi-tribute.
Let’s move past the Njigba-Smith comp and clarify the definition for starters. Solak did help a little in doingthis, nailing it down by counting the number of snaps Bowers took from slot or wide alignments, with Bowers having 13 on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints
That’s the most any tight end has had in the last three seasons, according to Solak. Bowers was targeted eight times, which ties the high for the number of times a tight end has been targeted since 2016.
After that the gushing starts in earnest from Solak, so let’s skip past that and talk about why this is happening. The Raiders are incredibly short on wide receivers right now, so that’s the reason they’re casting Bowers in this role.
Tre Tucker is showing some potential as a deep threat, but he’s not a high-volume target. Jalen Nailor has been a disappointment so far, with just five catches on 11 targets for 52 yards.
Jack Bech just broke his forearm against the New Orleans Saints and he's been placed on IR, and the receiver with the most touchdown passes, Cody White, was just signed to the roster after starting the season on the Raiders’ practice squad. Ashton Jeanty has struggled with occasional drops out of the backfield, so he may not be the high-volume receiver the Raiders imagined him to be back in training camp.
We’ve seen this movie before, and we’re about to see it again. Bowers opened last season with an outstanding game on the road against the New England Patriots, then got hurt, and when he came back opponents blanketed with Bowers with double and even triple-coverage, which gave him no room to operate.
The Raiders had no answers to this last year, so this will be the challenge for Kubiak this year. He’s about to see his first installment of it against the Kansas City Chiefs, who will undoubtedly target Bowers with the same kind of coverage that proved insurmountable last season.
