Comparisons can be fun. If for no other reasons that to give people an easy way to project what kind of player a prospect will be. And Brock Bowers drew all kinds of them coming out of Georgia.
Dane Brugler in his “The Beast” Draft guide offered the player comp of 49ers TE George Kittle. Other names that have come up have been Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce. That’s the best tight ends in the NFL in recent memory and some lofty comparisons to be certain.
But after Bowers’s latest game in which he set another new career-high with 140 yards receiving in Kansas City, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce is done with comparisons. Bowers is one-of-a-kind.
“No. Not this one. This guy is different,” Pierce said of Bowers. “This is different. Because when you’re getting matched up on the number one corner, when you’re getting double teamed throughout the field, and they know we’re going to throw him the ball, we’re going to keep throwing him the ball.
“He’s one of those matchups…it’s hard. I don’t know. Because his body type is different. I think there was some comparisons early on to like Aaron Hernandez, that type. But I just think the way he plays the game after he has the ball. He’s really like a running back. He’s a receiver when the ball’s in the air, but when he has the ball in his hands, he’s punishing people. He’s skilled enough obviously with his hands, his catch radius, I can’t really speak highly enough about this player. This player is doing a hell of a job this year for us and it’s no secret what we’re going to do each and every play when there’s an opportunity to throw it to 89.”
Teams have figured out not only that putting a linebacker on Bowers would be a mistake, but that they should simply be putting their best defensive back on him. This included the Broncos shadowing Bowers with Patrick Surtain II all game. And last week the Chiefs put their top cornerback Trent McDuffie on him. And it didn’t matter.
“Just his releases. We throw him a fade over there on [Trent] McDuffie late in the game in the third quarter and his ability to stack him, get on top and make a one-handed catch, putting his hand up late. Those are things that you see more veteran players do. But obviously very skilled and tremendous athlete,” Pierce continued.
Pierce has said multiple times that he could tell from the moment Bowers walked in the building that he was going to be something special. And each week that passes by, he proves that.
Since midseason, he was on pace to finish among the most elite tight ends in NFL history and has been setting new career-highs and re-writing the franchise record books seemingly every week since then.
