No tight end in football has been better this season than Brock Bowers. That’s just the fact of the matter. It’s a role that Travis Kelce has held for most of his career. But not last year. And not this year either. Which suggests we could be watching a torch being passed for the NFL’s best tight end.
As it happens, the two will be on the same field this weekend as the Chiefs visit Las Vegas. So, Kelce will get to meet his heir apparent and Bowers will get to meet one of his idols.
Bowers has studied Kelce in his career and tries to incorporate parts of Kelce’s game into his own.
“Just some of the things that he does, especially on off schedule plays like scramble drill and stuff,” Bowers said of Kelce. “Just the way he works is pretty impressive.”
The rookie leads NFL tight ends this season in catches (47) and yards (477). In fact, he’s second in the NFL in both catches and receiving yards at any position behind only Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Those numbers by Bowers put him on pace for a rookie record 114 catches for 1158 yards on the season. Numbers Kelce surpassed four times in his career with the last time being 2022 at the age of 33. He just turned 35, so his career is clearly on the downslope.
Unquestionably, even in the twilight of his career, Kelce is still the Chiefs’ top receiving weapon, and the Raiders recognize that. By the same token, the Chiefs realize full well that Bowers is the biggest threat for the Raiders in much the same way that Kelce had been for the Chiefs for a solid decade.
This isn’t an outright comparison in terms of play style and abilities. They are different players to be certain. But as we’ve seen so far, Bowers’ yards after catch abilities put him in rarified air alongside the likes of Kelce and George Kittle over the past few years.
This is the fifth time in three years defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has game planned against Kelce. And he wisely would not go down the road of comparisons between Kelce and Bowers.
“This guy Kelce’s a Hall of Famer,” Graham said. “That’s unfair to do that to Brock. These guys got championships, they got multiple All Pros. I know Brock works his butt off to get better every day and he’s made the most of his opportunities so far.”
It would be pretty cool if Kelce and Bowers got a chance to actually have a conversation at some point. It would be a classy move by a certified future Hall of Famer and and certainly an honor for Bowers to get that kind of respect and encouragement as he embarks on one is clearly a very bright future in the NFL.