Scouting Profile: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
The best tight end prospect to enter the NFL Draft in decades.
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 240lbs
Class: Junior
NFL Comparison: A George Kittle & Sam LaPorta hybrid, infused with Rob Gronkowski's DNA.
A tight end lined up in the slot shouldn’t be able to make an in-traffic catch off a quick in-breaking route, and subsequently run through the entire defense and zoom past every member of the opposing secondary for a 60+ yard touchdown.
Except, Brock Bowers didn’t get that memo.
A fearsome combination of size, speed, athleticism1, strength, body control, and ridiculous hand-eye coordination, Bowers catches in everything anywhere near his catch radius, routinely pulling down passes thrown well outside his frame, and going up and high-pointing the ball in jump ball situations. The burst that he generates at the top of his stem makes him almost impossible to cover with a linebacker or safety, and in the rare instances a defender does hang with him, he’s tremendous at using his frame to box them out from incoming passes. He hits top speed so quickly for a man of his size, allowing him to fight through any tackling attempt levied (whether it’s a one-on-one or a gang tackle), and punish would-be tacklers (and/or drag them along for extra yardage) as they try to bring him down. His yards after contact is one of his main superpowers; he runs through defenders like he was getting paid a bonus for each broken tackle he created. There’s a reason he shattered the record for yards after catch in college among any Power 5 tight end drafted in the last 10 years2.
Unlike many of the recent blue chip tight end prospects coming out of college, Bowers shows a savviness and level of polish as a blocker that you rarely see. He’s more than willing (and able) to be an inline blocker and push around defenders. While he’s a little more finesse and skill versus power and brute strength as a blocker (it’d be nice to see him do a better job of finishing off those blocks all the way through), it might just be that he simply lacks the size and bulk needed to hold up in that specific regard (he’s listed at 240lbs on Georgia’s team website, but some feel they might’ve generously added a few pounds). The only reason his stock could dip is if NFL teams believe he’s not as bulky3 as originally believed4. Otherwise, Bowers has the physical tools, skills, and wild man demeanor5 needed to become a dynamic force at the tight end position in the NFL.
Simply put, there have been five tight ends selected among the top 10 picks of the NFL Draft since the turn of the century, and I wouldn’t rank a single one of them ahead of Brock Bowers, as a prospect coming out of college6. ■
As a sophomore, Bowers reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in 4.50 seconds and recorded a 40” vertical. While in-school testing facilities are notoriously generous with recorded times and measurements, consider this: no tight end in the last 25 years has recorded a 40-yard dash time of under 4.53 seconds and had a vertical jump of more than 38 inches. Not a single one. Bowers could be the first tight end to do so in a quarter-century.
How’s this for a stat?: Bowers had more yards after the catch than Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze, Ricky Pearsall, and Brian Thomas Jr. during the 2023 season.
Or “thicc,” as the kids like to say.
Even though the data overwhelmingly shows that the ideal weight for pass-catching tight ends is right in that 245-255 lbs range.
He’s the type of guy who (allegedly) got pissed off when people told him to ‘shut things down’ for the remainder of the year after his midseason ankle injury last Fall.
You likely noticed the mention of Rob Gronkowski in my player comparison for Bowers. As a rule, you’ll virtually NEVER hear me mention any tight end in the same sentence as the former—Gronkowski was 1-of-1 in terms of the way he played and what he brought to the position. Bowers definitely isn’t the 6'6" and 265lbs wall of muscle that ‘Gronk’ was, but it’s hard to not get glimpses of the latter’s essence when you watch the former play.