The Las Vegas Raiders have spent the season’s first six weeks working through the growing pains of life with a new offensive coordinator installing a new offense.
The Silver and Black have also already started two different quarterbacks after the quarterback that won the offseason’s quarterback battle was benched after five games. In addition to all of that, the Raiders traded All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams after he missed the last two games with a hamstring injury.
All of these things led to the Raiders depending more on other players to step up and produce on offense. While Las Vegas has still struggled on offense, the emergence of rookie tight end Brock Bowers has been on full display for the entire league to see.
Raiders offensive coordinator Luke Getsy explained what makes Bowers unique.
"I think he's a young man that's capable of a lot of things,” Getsy said. “I think what makes him so dynamic, though, is that he plays the position in the complete sense. He can play in-line, he can get off the rock, he can block, he can do pass protection. He can run routes out of it. He can run from the backfield.
“You can widen him out, and he can run them. So from that sense, I think that versatility, same thing we're talking about with Jakobi [Meyers], that's what makes it so dynamic, right? Because he's not only just capable, but he's more than willing, and he loves this game.
“When you have a bunch of guys like those guys that love the game, that are playing that way, and they could do a lot of different things, because they just got a really high football IQ, it really opens up a lot of stuff. And we hope just keep continue to build his game, right? It's not something we're trying to put everything on him. We want to just let his game just continue to grow each and every week."
Getsy noted a few of Bowers's traits that have made him one of the top pass-catchers in the National Football League over his first six games. He credited the rookie tight end with having the right mix of athleticism, toughness, and spatial awareness. Bowers’ ability to make small plays into bigger gains, as well as make the big plays has been a plus for the Raiders’ offense.
"He's a natural football player,” Getsy said. “And what I mean by that, is he understands spacing, his awareness of what's going on around him. I think all that's real. I think so when he catches the ball, and he knows he has space. There's no wasted movement. There's no figure it out. There's no bubble around it. It's catch, drop, step, get vertical, and go, right?
“So, you're seeing him catch check-downs, and they're turning into explosives. And so, all that awareness of space and the people around you is something special that not everybody has, but he has it. And I think that on top of understanding where he's supposed to be conceptually, and then the toughness part of it. I think that that part of it is probably the most important.”
While the Raiders may have traded away Adams to the New York Jets, they still have a legitimate No. 1 option in Bowers. Getsy would be wise to make Bowers the focus of the offense moving forward, whether as a decoy, the primary option on passing plays, or both. The Raiders offense should move through Bowers going forward.
