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Raiders trio recognized by The Athletic’s NFL midseason All-Rookie team

A trio of Raiders were recognized by The Athletic in their NFL midseason All-Rookie team.

With the NFL season having passed its midway point, a number of outlets are putting together their list of midseason awards.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler put together his NFL midseason All-Rookie team.

It won’t surprise Las Vegas Raiders fans to see rookie sensation Brock Bowers on Brugler’s midseason All-Rookie team. Among tight ends, the 6-foot-4, 230 pound rookie from Georgia has racked up a league-leading 580 receiving yards.

Bowers is currently second among all NFL players in receptions with 57 grabs. The Raiders rookie has a pair of touchdown receptions as well. Bowers hauled in a 57-yard touchdown against Denver in Week 5 and a 22-yard touchdown grab last week against the Bengals.

After averaging eight catches per game in October, Bowers now leads all rookies with 57 receptions, second most in the NFL across all players, behind only Wilson (60). Bowers’ run blocking has been a roller coaster, but when targeted, good things have happened (81.4 percent reception rate).

Bowers also has been a weapon with the ball in his hands. Just five receivers and tight ends in the NFL have eclipsed 300 yards after the catch this season: Ja’Marr Chase, Khalil Shakir, Chris Godwin, Zay Flowers and … Bowers. Regardless of who is under center for the Raiders, they need to continue targeting No. 89. – Brugler, The Athletic.

Selected by the Raiders with the No. 13 overall selection in the 2024 NFL draft, it’s clear that Las Vegas has its next great offensive star in Bowers.

In a season where things very well could continue to shift sideways, Bowers figures to remain a bright spot throughout. The first-rounder has done nothing but exceed expectations.

Bowers joins an offensive All-Rookie team from Brugler that also features Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Joe Alt and Pittsburgh Steelers interior offensive lineman Zach Frazier.

Two other Raiders were honored as honorable mention midseason All-Rookie team members.

Interior offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson and offensive tackle DJ Glaze were both chosen as honorable mention selections. Powers-Johnson was a second-round draft pick out of Oregon, while Glaze was a third-round selection of the Raiders via Maryland.

Raiders 2024 midseason awards: Top newcomer, breakout player, best position group, more

It’s the midway mark for the NFL season. And it happens to also be the bye week for the Raiders. So, with that in mind, let’s dole out some awards.

This was an easy choice. Bowers has been on a record pace this season for rookie tight ends. His 580 yards receiving is best among tight ends and his 57 catches is second in the league at any position behind only Jets WR Garrett Wilson.

Not a lot of competition for this award. But prior to Wilkins’s injury he was one of the best free agent signings of any team this offseason. They’re hoping he can return this season.

He was benched four games into his rookie season. Now he’s playing at a high level as an earned starting cornerback. He hasn’t logged an interception, but he routinely shows great skills and sticky coverage on some very talented deep threats.

No Raiders players are either coming back from a major injury or coming back to previous from off of a down season. Perhaps that will change by season’s end, but for now, there’s simply no one who fits this award.

If you’d prefer to put Luke Getsy here, I get it. But, personally, I don’t think a lot was expected of Getsy. He was not nearly the Raiders top choice for the job and was somehow even worse. Minshew was expected to at least add a steady presence at QB to settle down the offense. He wasn’t seen as someone who would win games for the Raiders, but rather not lose them. And he hasn’t lived up to that.

Not only did he not jump in and take the reins of the offense in camp as the Raiders had hoped, he’s been benched several times this season as he has thrown more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (8).

When all else fails — and it has — at least the Raiders have their kick squad. Daniel Carlson and AJ Cole are still arguably the best kicking duo in the league.

You could also go with “Only good game” as the title of this award. That win in Baltimore looks more and more like a fluke the farther down the line we get from it. Their other win was because Deshaun Watson was so determined to lose it for the Browns. The Ravens game was the only game this season the Raiders actually went out and earned the victory. Not coincidentally, it was also the only game they increased their scoring in the second half.

There were many to choose from for this one. Just pick one, really.

Could go with the home opening loss to the Panthers in which they never led and Andy Dalton led offense to put up 33 points in in the first 47 minutes.

Maybe the Rams where the Raiders turned the ball over four times?

Perhaps the Chiefs game where the running backs averaged less than a yard per carry?

Or the Steelers game where Pittsburgh rattled off 26 unanswered?

Or the Broncos who had a 100-yard pick six and rattled off 34 unanswered?

There’s always this past week against the Bengals when the Raiders gave up scores on the Bengals first five drives — four of which went for touchdowns — and allowed a season-high 41 points?

Too many options to choose from to pick just one.

Best punter in the league. Periodt.

Yes, the best rookie has also been their best offensive player. Not ideal, but there’s no one else who is even a viable candidate for this award.

He won AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the team’s come-from-behind win in Baltimore in Week two. He’s been battling an ankle injury for several weeks, which has limited his effectiveness, but he’s still their top defender.

NFL legend requests jersey swap with Brock Bowers

One of the best tight ends in NFL history asked for Brock Bowers’ jersey after the Las Vegas Raiders’ latest game

Brock Bowers has been on a generational run in his rookie season for the Las Vegas Raiders. He is first in the NFL in receptions with 52 and is 10th in the league with 532 receiving yards. He is the only tight end inside of the top 10 in both of the categories.

Bowers, a former Georgia Bulldog, is proving worthy of a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

This past Sunday was National Tight Ends Day. The Las Vegas Raiders (2-6) lost to unbeaten division rival Kansas City, 27-20.

This game showcased two elite tight ends from different generations who were the leading receivers for their respective teams. Bowers topped the Raiders in receiving with five receptions with 58 yards. Travis Kelce led the Chiefs with 10 receptions, 90 yards and one touchdown.

At the end of the game, Kelce asked for Bowers’ jersey and made sure a jersey swap was in cards between the two tight ends.

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Bowers’ dominance for three years at Georgia was quite impressive. He continues being one of the best at his position in the NFL. The recognition from a great such as Kelce shows that Bowers is on his path to becoming one of the best the league has seen. Kelce has the fourth-most receptions and receiving yards of any tight end in NFL history.

Raiders rookie Brock Bowers set to meet Travis Kelce as he passes torch of NFL’s best tight end

Midway through Bowers’s record pace rookie season, he will take the same field as the man who passes him the torch as the NFL’s best.

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.

Brock Bowers makes NFL history again

Former Georgia Bulldog Brock Bowers is already setting NFL records with the Las Vegas Raiders

Former Georgia Bulldog tight end Brock Bowers is already a sensation in the NFL. He was by far the best tight end of the 2024 NFL draft, and, so far, he’s been a generational talent from the first snap.

This past week, Bowers set an NFL record. With 47 receptions, Bowers has the most receptions of any rookie tight end through seven weeks in league history. It’s also the third most by any rookie since 2000 behind Puka Nacua (58) and Saquon Barkley (49).

His 477 yards leads all tight ends in the NFL and places him third in league history in receiving yards by a tight end (not just a rookie TE) through seven weeks. Only Hall of Famer Mike Ditka (505 in 1961) and Kyle Pitts (484 in 2021) are ahead of him in that span.

If Bowers keeps this pace, he would end the season with approximately 114 receptions and 1,158 receiving yards. The projected receptions total would put him only two away from the most receptions by a tight end ever, and the projected yards total would put him in the top 25 of highest total receiving yards by a tight end in a single season.

Of course, with the Raiders at 2-5 with sloppy quarterback play, the full potential still has yet to be reached for Bowers in this Raiders offense. The Raiders will likely be looking to pick a quarterback in the 2025 NFL draft and Georgia quarterback Carson Beck could be perfect for unlocking more of Bowers’ potential.

Stetson Bennett, Brock Bowers reunited

Stetson Bennett, Brock Bowers reunited in a familiar place for many Georgia Bulldog fans

Former Georgia Bulldogs legends Stetson Bennett and Brock Bowers were temporarily reunited on Sunday. Bennett and Bowers were on hand as the Los Angeles Rams played the Las Vegas Raiders.

Bowers and Bennett were reunited in a familiar place. Bennett and Bowers were part of Georgia’s 2022 national championship team that defeated TCU, 65-7, in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. They returned to the venue on Sunday.

Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett was inactive for the game. However, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers was active. Bowers had a game-high 10 receptions for 93 yards in the Raiders’ 20-15 loss to the Rams.

Bowers has 47 receptions for 477 receiving yards and one touchdown this season. Entering Monday night, Bowers leads the NFL in receptions. He has the eighth-most receiving yards of any player in the league and is proving worthy of his first-round draft status.

Here’s when Brock Bowers and Stetson Bennett reunited after the game.

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Bennett and Bowers were two of eight Georgia players in the Rams-Raiders game. Bennett, tackle Warren McClendon, defensive back Derion Kendrick and quarterback Matthew Stafford are on the Rams. Bowers, safety Christopher Smith, defensive lineman John Jenkins and running back Zamir White are on the Raiders.

Former Dawgs have to be loving Georgia’s road win at Texas.

5 Reasons for Optimism for Raiders Week 7 vs Rams

It may seem like every team the Raiders face is in better shape than them. But that isn’t always the case. In fact, the Raiders actually have a better record than their next opponent. The Raiders are at 2-4 on the season, while the Rams are 1-4. So, while there are certainly causes for concern, you probably don’t have to look too far to find some reasons for optimism. Here’s a few.

Each week since Crosby missed his first career game, he has looked better and better. Last week in the loss to the Steelers, he was racking up the pressures and only Justin Fields’s supreme athleticism and quick decisions kept him from getting blown up by Crosby. Matt Stafford is not nearly that fleet of foot and is more likely to stay in the pocket than Fields was, opening up the possibility of Crosby getting home a few times.

These days the closest the Raiders have to a number one receiver would appear to be Bowers. He had nine catches last week and leads the team in targets (46), receptions (37) and yards (384). He leads the league in receiving among tight ends, and has him on pace to surpass 1000 yards on the season. Not to mention when he gets the ball his hands, he is among the league leaders in yards after catch. The Raiders will continue to feed him so long as defenses fail to stop it.

Currently the Raiders have the second worst rushing offense in the league. But this week they will go against the very worst run defense, so maybe they can get something going? The Raiders had the worst rush offense while Zamir W/hite was the feature back, so his potential return doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot. But it can only help to have one more healthy back in the stable along with Alexander Mattison whose four combined touchdowns leads the team.

Looking at the kind of points the Rams have given up had me doing a double take. They have given up at least 24 points in all five games this season. Even the win. And they gave up 41 points to the Rams. The Raiders, on the other hand, have only scored more than 24 points once this season (26). So, maybe the Rams defense is bad enough that the Raiders offense can actually put some points on the board.

SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Raiders’ home away from home. In fact, when they play the Chargers in LA, they get their best crowd of the season. Rams fans represent better than the Chargers, but even still, LA is Raiders country. And for that reason, the crowd is expected to be about 60-40 in favor of the Raiders. Which is about what you get at Allegiant on a good day. That should help the Raiders feel more welcome as well as keep down the noise when they’re on offense.

Raiders TE Brock Bowers Yards After Catch numbers already on pace for elite company

Rookie tight end Brock Bowers leads all tight ends in the NFL in Yards After Catch (YAC) and is on pace for All Pro level numbers.

It’s becoming clear just what makes Brock Bowers so special as a player. And it starts with his ability to get yards after the catch.

The rookie tight end’s ability to get every extra yard imaginable and a few yards you didn’t think were possible almost defies logic and reason.

Raiders offensive coordinator set about trying to explain just how Bowers does it.

“Some guys like…he’s a natural football player,” Luke Getsy said of Bowers’ YAC abilities. “What I mean by that is he understands spacing, he understands his awareness of what’s all going on around him. I think all that’s real. So, when he catches the ball and he knows he has space, there’s no wasted movement. There’s no figuring out, there’s no bubble around him. It’s catch, drop step, get vertical, and go. So, you’re seeing him catch check downs and you’re seeing him turn them 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 that on top of understanding where he’s supposed to be conceptually and the toughness prt of it. That part is probably the most important.”

The rookie 13th overall pick leads all NFL tight ends over the first six weeks of the season with 206 yards after catch. That’s tenth in the league at any position. With 384 yards receiving, that means well over half his yards have come after the catch.

His numbers put him on pace for 584 yards after the catch on the season. The list of tight ends to have better numbers than that over the past five years is short.

2022 *Travis Kelce — 648
2019 *George Kittle — 602
2023 **David Njoku — 599
2020 *Travis Kelce — 587

*All Pro season
** Pro Bowl season

This is nothing new for Bowers. Twice in his three years at Georgia he led all FCS tight ends in Yards After Catch. But it’s one thing to do it on the collegiate level, it’s another to treat NFL defenders the same way.

‘He’s a problem’: Sean McVay talks up Raiders rookie TE Brock Bowers

Sean McVay and the Rams badly wanted Brock Bowers in the draft. Now they’ll face him on Sunday and McVay admits “he’s a problem.”

If Les Snead and Sean McVay had their way, Brock Bowers would be a member of the Los Angeles Rams. Throughout the first round of the 2024 draft, the Rams tried to trade up for the Georgia tight end multiple times. They offered two different trades to the Jets at Nos. 10 and 11 overall after New York traded back one spot, and then they offered the Raiders the 19th pick and 52nd for Nos. 13 and 112.

The Raiders politely declined and took Bowers, securing the top tight end in the draft – and seemingly McVay’s top target in the class.

Now, the Rams will have to deal with the outstanding rookie on Sunday when the Raiders visit SoFi Stadium and McVay knows how difficult he is to deal with. His 384 yards receiving are 83 more than the next-closest tight end and now with Davante Adams out of the picture, he’s unquestionably their primary playmaker on offense.

“He’s a problem. He does a great job contributing to the blocking surface. He can play all over the core. They give him jet sweeps. He’s creating after the catch. All the things that made him such a great prospect, you’re seeing be brought to life early on in his NFL career. There isn’t anything that he can’t do,” McVay said.

The Raiders may be without Adams moving forward after trading him to the Jets, but McVay sees Bowers and Jakobi Meyers as two dangerous pass catchers for quarterback Aidan O’Connell.

They’ll both present challenges for the Rams’ defensive backs, particularly when Bowers gets the ball in his hands.

“I’m seeing a guy that has a complete game and I think they do a great job of trying to feature him in a variety of ways,” McVay said of Bowers. “I expect them to have Meyers back, who I have tremendous respect for. They’ve got tough backs so it’s a great challenge. Brock, you flip on the tape, you look at it, and he jumps off the screen at you.”

The Raiders are by no means a top team but they did stun the Raiders earlier this season and the defense has stood tall on third down with one of the lowest conversion rates allowed in the NFL.

It’s a game the Rams need to win but they shouldn’t take Las Vegas lightly, especially if Bowers heats up.

Ballers for Raiders Week 6 loss vs Steelers

Those who deserve the credit for playing well and the blame for the collapse.

You will rarely see a game where a team couldn’t get out of their own way quite the way the Raiders did on Sunday against the Steelers. There were some good performances in the game, but they were overshadowed by all the mistakes. And often times those mistakes literally wiped away those plays.

As always (or usually) we hand out the credit to those who played well before we get to those who tore it all down.

Ballers

LB Divine Deablo

Divine was feeling it in his first game back off injury, making plays all over the field. It was a tackle for loss on a catch in the flat that was the key play to end the Steelers’ first drive and force them to settle for a field goal. Then in the second quarter, he blew up a trick play and Justin Fields with it for a 13-yard loss that took them out of Vegas territory and ultimately ended the drive.

It was still a 7-6 Raiders lead late in the second quarter. A turnover gave the Steelers the ball on the Vegas 30-yard-line. But two plays later, Deablo picked off a pass over the middle to get the Raiders the ball back. At least for an instant he did. A roughing the passer penalty wiped it away and the Steelers kept the ball. They would ultimately get the touchdown, but on the two-point conversion, there was Diablo to knock it down to keep the score at 12-7 at the half.

Diablo would finish with six tackles, two for a loss, a sack, a QB hit, and a pass breakup (which he wasn’t credited for because it was on a two-point conversion).

DE Maxx Crosby

Early in the second quarter, the Steelers mounted their second scoring drive. But Crosby didn’t make it easy. On the second play, Justin Fields saw Crosby screaming around the right edge off the snap and instantly tucked it and ran for 14 yards. Two plays later, Crosby drew a holding penalty which got eight of those yards back. The Steelers still managed to get a couple catches and a run to make it to the 31. Maxx stopped them there with two pressures leading to incompletions and they settled for a field goal.

The next drive, Crosby would draw another holding penalty. Two plays later he would get another pressure to force an incompletion. Three plays later they punted it away.

Early in the fourth quarter, with the score still 22-7, Crosby filled his gap, leading to a tackle for loss, and blew up another run in the backfield for a loss. They couldn’t get it back and punted. He finished with a half sack, three QB hits, and two tackles for loss and affected the game even more than the stats showed.

TE Brock Bowers

The Raiders drove for a touchdown on their opening drive and the offense went through Bowers to do it. He laid a key block on a seven-yard run. Two plays later he caught an eight-yard pass. Next play he blocked on a nine-yard run. And finally, on second and goal from the two, Bowers cleared the path for the touchdown run.

To lead out the third quarter, Bowers made ten-yard catch followed by a nice catch for 18 yards on a ball thrown behind him while he was running right to left. Unfortunately that catch was wiped away by a holding penalty on Andre James.

Even without that catch, Bowers led the team with nine catches for 71 yards.

Honorable Mention

RB Alexander Mattison — Had 19 touches (5 receptions) for 65 yards and a touchdown. And had a second touchdown called back by a very suspect illegal man down field penalty.

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