🏈 Pick #13 is in! Raiders select TE, Brock Bowers, Georgia

[BobbyPhil1781]

1 hour ago, RaidersAreOne said:

For those worried about his strength or being some finesse, one-dimensional receiver...

 

Good video. He won't be able to hold the edge against NFL ends but he will serve as a viable option for chipping and double teams. This also shows he's not afraid to block and will be able to handle smaller defenders.

I have a hard time understanding why people don't like this pick at the very least. He's arguably the best offensive skill position player behind MHJ. 13 was an absolute steal.

[NCOUGHMAN]

2 hours ago, BobbyPhil1781 said:

Gallery had limitations but I can understand your thought process. I honestly can't see how Bowers flops if he stays healthy. Again, not an extra lineman TE but he's extremely versatile and reliable. Still blocks well enough though

His transition to the nfl will be interesting especially seeing how quick he adjusts

[RaidersAreOne]

 

[Scoundrel]

2 hours ago, BobbyPhil1781 said:

Good video. He won't be able to hold the edge against NFL ends but he will serve as a viable option for chipping and double teams. This also shows he's not afraid to block and will be able to handle smaller defenders.

I have a hard time understanding why people don't like this pick at the very least. He's arguably the best offensive skill position player behind MHJ. 13 was an absolute steal.

Anyone hating the pick doesn’t deserve him. Give him to Denver (since they passed on him like turds)

[RaidersAreOne]

Fwiw it sounds like both the Rams and Colts were trying to trade up for Bowers:

 

[MrOaktown_56]

46 minutes ago, RaidersAreOne said:

Fwiw it sounds like both the Rams and Colts were trying to trade up for Bowers:

 

"C" pick though smh

[MrOaktown_56]

4 hours ago, Darbsk said:

Fuaga is going to be a great one, loved him, but of course it’s subjective. I actually thought Mitchell was better than both 😁 you could argue for either Fuaga or Bowers and not be wrong though. 

I'm not as high on Fuaga as consensus. He'll be a very good guard but I don't see him as a top tier right tackle. Brandon thorn the OL guru had Fauga as a 2nd round pick, which I was closer to than a top 15 one.

[Geezy]

3 hours ago, ronjon1990 said:

No, I just don't wanna see that name ever again.

I saw a list of what teams were doing with their 5th year options and they didn’t even list him lol 

[Geezy]

Bowers shoulda kept 19 

[Geezy]

Can you imagine Bowers with McVay sheesh hopefully Getsy knows wtf he’s doing 

[Jerry]

45 minutes ago, MrOaktown_56 said:

"C" pick though smh

What is killing me is that they have it as a C because we have Mayer.  Not because of his talent.  Or how good he may become in the NFL, but purely because of the fact that we already have a TE that we drafted in the second last year.

Blows my mind.  If these guys are putting up 60+ and 40+ receptions each for the next 4-5 years, and helping us dominate pass blocking and run blocking, how is that a C grade?  These draft analysts are smoking turd cigarettes.

[bucksavage1]

9 hours ago, NCOUGHMAN said:

Unless he can stretch the field Imo it’s not gonna open up adams. We basically have wr’s and te’s that thrive in the 5-15 yrd range middle gonna be clogged up. Kinda like kc vs sf in the super bowl. Kelce ate while kittles was invisible. Imo due to qbs and offensive weapons. Kc had deep threats that allowed kelce to work underneath. Sf loves to play the 5-15 yrd game Imo. Aoc imo more like purdy than Pat in the arm strength department. Idk about Gardner. Only deep threat we have is tre. 

Bowers will be matchup nightmare for teams. The right scheme and will have him all over the field. It’s all up to Getsy to get inside his bag. 

 

[ronjon1990]

4 hours ago, Geezy said:

Can you imagine Bowers with McVay sheesh hopefully Getsy knows wtf he’s doing 

McVay or Shanahan would be scary with him. 

[ronjon1990]

16 hours ago, Jerry said:

What is killing me is that they have it as a C because we have Mayer.  Not because of his talent.  Or how good he may become in the NFL, but purely because of the fact that we already have a TE that we drafted in the second last year.

Blows my mind.  If these guys are putting up 60+ and 40+ receptions each for the next 4-5 years, and helping us dominate pass blocking and run blocking, how is that a C grade?  These draft analysts are smoking turd cigarettes.

I mean, unsurprisingly, I tend to go between C+ and B- on this class myself. Not reflective of any particular player, rather due to what we didn't (or waited late) to address. 

We can collect all the individual pass catching talent in the world, without a QB they're useless (See: Cleveland Browns). But no sense in continuing to beat the QB horse right now. 

Bowers, the pick, I would give a B+ or A-. I simply cannot get totally behind the route taken (and those not) that led to it. Talent is an A+. 

JPJ gets an A for me. 

But it does go downhill from here with me. 

Glaze is a C- for me. Major reach, imo. 

Richardson is a C. I'd go up to a C+, given I know very little about him, but no higher since he didn't seem to really be on anyone's radar. 

Eichenburg is another C. He's well rounded, but I don't see much upside. 

Laube is a B-. Great production and I see the rationale and who he likely is viewed as competition for. To his credit, no RB in this class would warrant higher from me. 

Taylor and Devonshire get B-'s as well. They're flyer depth and a shot in the dark as 7th rounders. 

The class on it's own specific merit as is, looks somewhere from a B- to a B. But, and I feel the analysts may be looking at the same, it's just not about who was taken. There's what we didn't address (for whatever reason), the reaching, the positional value, etc. 

We went into the draft with our two biggest needs being QB and OT, and we addressed only the second need with a 3rd round reach. To me, it's more surprising that people don't seem to grasp that plenty of people are highly skeptical given that. And, while I love the JPJ pick, he plays an objectively under-valued position. When you need a QB and OT and your first two picks are TE and OG, you're not getting high marks. It doesn't help that Richardson, Eichenburg, and Glaze were all somewhat reaches. 

It's certainly the type of C grade that hindsight could turn all the way into an A. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it did. If Bowers is the Chalres Clay on steroids everyone thinks, JPJ is as good as advertised, and Glaze proves himself, that's at least a B+/A- regardless of anything else. Any of the day 3 guys even making the roster would push it to a full rounded A, and I don't think that's particularly out of the realm of possibility. 

But it is indeed a class that will have to justify a higher grade through actual production and the benefit of hindsight for a lot of people. I think the class largely hinges on Bowers being as good as advertised and JPJ. Glaze, I will be surprised if he pans out. The rest seem JAG-ish in the grand scheme of things (ie: If Laube supplants Abdullah, cool but not franchise altering). But if Bowers busts, we walk out of a class in which we clearly needed a QB and OT, both of which depth was aplenty even if some moves, that nobody tried very hard to make, were needed with....a G/C? 

The upside potential of the class is, as I said, an A with very little needing to occur to bump it up. But with upside comes downside. Bowers flops or winds up being just a dude and Glaze doesn't pan out, we could be sitting on a flat our D- or even F. It could go either way in a couple of years, so I think somewhere from C to B- is totally fair. 

[Jerry]

2 hours ago, ronjon1990 said:

I mean, unsurprisingly, I tend to go between C+ and B- on this class myself. Not reflective of any particular player, rather due to what we didn't (or waited late) to address. 

We can collect all the individual pass catching talent in the world, without a QB they're useless (See: Cleveland Browns). But no sense in continuing to beat the QB horse right now. 

Bowers, the pick, I would give a B+ or A-. I simply cannot get totally behind the route taken (and those not) that led to it. Talent is an A+. 

JPJ gets an A for me. 

But it does go downhill from here with me. 

Glaze is a C- for me. Major reach, imo. 

Richardson is a C. I'd go up to a C+, given I know very little about him, but no higher since he didn't seem to really be on anyone's radar. 

Eichenburg is another C. He's well rounded, but I don't see much upside. 

Laube is a B-. Great production and I see the rationale and who he likely is viewed as competition for. To his credit, no RB in this class would warrant higher from me. 

Taylor and Devonshire get B-'s as well. They're flyer depth and a shot in the dark as 7th rounders. 

The class on it's own specific merit as is, looks somewhere from a B- to a B. But, and I feel the analysts may be looking at the same, it's just not about who was taken. There's what we didn't address (for whatever reason), the reaching, the positional value, etc. 

We went into the draft with our two biggest needs being QB and OT, and we addressed only the second need with a 3rd round reach. To me, it's more surprising that people don't seem to grasp that plenty of people are highly skeptical given that. And, while I love the JPJ pick, he plays an objectively under-valued position. When you need a QB and OT and your first two picks are TE and OG, you're not getting high marks. It doesn't help that Richardson, Eichenburg, and Glaze were all somewhat reaches. 

It's certainly the type of C grade that hindsight could turn all the way into an A. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it did. If Bowers is the Chalres Clay on steroids everyone thinks, JPJ is as good as advertised, and Glaze proves himself, that's at least a B+/A- regardless of anything else. Any of the day 3 guys even making the roster would push it to a full rounded A, and I don't think that's particularly out of the realm of possibility. 

But it is indeed a class that will have to justify a higher grade through actual production and the benefit of hindsight for a lot of people. I think the class largely hinges on Bowers being as good as advertised and JPJ. Glaze, I will be surprised if he pans out. The rest seem JAG-ish in the grand scheme of things (ie: If Laube supplants Abdullah, cool but not franchise altering). But if Bowers busts, we walk out of a class in which we clearly needed a QB and OT, both of which depth was aplenty even if some moves, that nobody tried very hard to make, were needed with....a G/C? 

The upside potential of the class is, as I said, an A with very little needing to occur to bump it up. But with upside comes downside. Bowers flops or winds up being just a dude and Glaze doesn't pan out, we could be sitting on a flat our D- or even F. It could go either way in a couple of years, so I think somewhere from C to B- is totally fair. 

Great post.  I understand your perspective. 

I think JPJ is a value pick in the second.  Chris Jones is still in our division.  OGs were getting paid top dollar in FA this offseason.  I see the vision and respect it with us taking him in the second.  Especially when he was considered by some to be a 1st round player and probably the best IOL in the draft.  

As for Bowers, I think the perspective from the Raiders came down to this, is Minshew and Bowers better than Nix/McCarthy and Mayer (plus the player(s) we lose from trading pick(s))?  They may believe Minshew with Bowers is better than Nix/McCarthy with Mayer.  Once the rug was pulled out from under them with Penix they had to think fast as to whether or not Nix/McCarthy were worth trading up for.  The answer for them was probably "No."

I agree with your assessment of Glaze.  I think he's going to be a backup utility OL that can play all four OG/OT positions decently, with his primary position being backup RT behind Thayer Munford who I think the staff believes in.  

As for the rest of the players (day 3 picks), I think they were all drafted with the belief/vision that they can contribute on STs no matter what.  And if they are able to develop at their respective positions then it will be a plus.  Telesco said our 4th round CB was the team just trying to find/draft speed.  I think Richardson with his + tackling will develop into a really good gunner.  Laube was clearly drafted to return punts/kicks and be one of our receiving backs.  I personally like Trey Taylor.  Military mentality, great stats, the right character.  I like him.  Eisenberg was drafted because he probably has that dog mentality that Pierce loves.

Overall, I'm happy with it.  I understand we didn't draft players at premium positions, so I get why it wasn't a highly graded draft overall.  That's part of why I gave it a B grade.  But again, I will still argue that giving Bowers a C grade still makes no sense.  The TE position is just being undervalued.  Nobody was knocking the TE position when B. Belichick was destroying the league with Gronk and Hernandez. 

Anyway, hopefully we can find players at the premium positions (QB, OT) during next offseason.