If I can get enough work done tomorrow and find a decent price on a flight, I was hoping to get down to Athens for G-Day this weekend. A good bet Bowers will be there watching. If the stars line up, I'ma track the dude down just so I can tell him that 50% of the TGG board is calling him noodle-hands.
FWIW - Bowers and Mims were both recovering from injuries at UGA’s pro day so they held a makeup workout today. Or, rather, yesterday. LINK
I'm getting a better understanding and thanks for the education--but in my naivete, it sounds like you are describing a glorified H back who can take advantage of matchups and that's theoretically great--I just can't think of an NFL situation where that has worked over time at the level of a #10 pick. Taysom Hill comes to mind as that type of guy and he's solid as hell but he seems to have been figured out a bit the last 2 years. If Bowers is a good as Hill that's a win but I'm not sure it is when you pass up on a 5-year starting tackle to get him. IMO Now that I think more about it you probably do pass up on the T unless its Alt--we can get T next year but Bowers is not an every-year kind of prospect. He's worth the shot at #10--thx!
What that indicates to me is that Bowers isn't a typical tight end. He's a large wide receiver with wide receiver speed and YAC ability.
Great intel, thanks a lot, @Sundayjack ! A few points here. Your comments about correlation of reduced production with a less mobile QB with bigger arm. Well, Rodgers is not mobile any longer with a big arm. But more interesting is that comment about coach. We literally have the worst OC in NFL (HC is defensive). And it is not just my opinion, he just led two worst offenses in NFL two years straight with two different teams, one of which included Russ at QB, who is not terrible. You also correctly pointed out that we need to use 12 personnel almost exclusively with Bowers and Conk/Ruckert in addition. MiLF probably accomplishes that, but Hack... You are asking the worst OC coach in NFL to change the strategies to accommodate Brock. My confidence level of success on this is very low. I am not there yet. Thank you @Sundayjack for putting things in context. I did not realize Bowers played through injury last season. That does help explain sudden drop in contested catches. I checked previous two years, and he is MUCH better: 75%+ freshman season, and 60%+ in sophomore. It does alleviate my concern about contested catches. It's clear Brock is a baller and a serious weapon. It's also clear you need to use him properly and essentially switch to 12 personnel. But ... he is still a TE. I get it, it's not traditional TE, but we cannot have him lined up as a WR and say use GW in a slot, where GW can be effective as well. I am looking at him as possibly a better version of Kinkaid. It's still a TE though, however non traditional it is, and he is not a guarantee to be Kittle. With all of that, I think he is mid teens pick, that's where I see his average value. Last year Kinkaid went 25, and it was a good pick. Not a steal, but a good selection. And while at say 15 Brock would be a good selection, we have #10 overall, not 15. IMO, we can do better. It is possible to make it work, though I doubt it with Hack. If Latham, Odunze, Alt, Nabers, or Olu are there, we would set ourselves up better. Let's not underestimate the importance of top young OT for roster building. And I still like a top ranked WR, who can line up in slot or outside more than a TE, as non traditional as he may be. Let's not forget, even Kittle is #25 in receiving yards in NFL, with 24 top spots taken by WRs.
In 11 personnel Bowers would play the slot with Conklin at TE. He'd take over Lazards role as the big slot receiver. In 12 personnel he would line up opposite Conklin. Both will be on the field at the same time for the majority of snaps. Ruckert and his 16 catches will line up primarily in jumbo packages.
I came here to say this but you beat me to it. 77% contested catch rate as a freshman. Odunze just set a record for wide receivers at 75%. Too many paid "analysts" are looking at stats and not watching games, and they lose all context.
Very well said--I guess I'm at the point where if we took him at 10 I'd be happy but agree that there may be others still on the board who would be better traditional picks. We should discuss this at about pick 8 on draft night.
I am not sure he has WR speed. He didn't run at the combine and I doubt he will run at pro day or elsewhere. He seems slower on film than say Odunze, who is not super fast either, but decent. Also, if he is a WR, he is a slot exclusively, he cannot line up outside. I do think he can block too, and he is definitely a weapon, but ... top 10 - I still don't see it. Take a look at these two links by Jeremiah, who is a respected analyst: 2023 early April prospects: https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-s-top-50-2023-nfl-draft-prospect-rankings-4-0 2024 early April prospects: https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-s-top-50-2024-nfl-draft-prospect-rankings-4-0 Read the Kinkaid and Brock. Basically same profile, rated #9 and #7 respectively, at the same exact time month of the draft, year apart. I do like Brock more, and sure Brock is even better, but Kinkaid went #25, not 9. DJ rates good non traditional TEs with slot WR and dynamic weapon abilities high, but NFL still has positional value, and for a good reason. If Brock were a true WR, he would play WR. To me, it is clear, a very good prospect, good weapon, a non traditional TE, can play slot. That's mid teens, not top 10. Just like Kinkaid wasn't anywhere near top 10. Brock is close, but I just think we can do better with 10.
Just to add to my previous post. If you replace all the bottom of the barrel players with average or better players and keep the great players, this offense will be above average to great. So there's a balance between getting great and mediocre players. There will always be bad players, but you try to minimize those. As of today, in this offseason, JD has signed average and better players. It's arguable if any of them are "great" at this point in their careers.
All I can say is this, I look at this guy as our number 3 WR on 60% of plays and TE 2 for 40%. He can literally be on the field on most all formations. Even without the YAC and all his other attributes, which is a monster plus, we need some sure fire guy that can give us the 5 yards plus on third down. I can’t even count the number of missed opportunities last year between Lazard, Uz and the rest on short yardage third downs. Add a more accurate and decisive QB and this offense could flourish. Again it will depend on how the draft board stacks up, but somewhere between the 10th and 13th pick this guy could be a steal.
I can see it now. It's week 15 and in a press conference, Hack says: "I just realized that Bowers is a really good receiver. We'll try to incorporate him into the passing offense more often"
They watched the games in 2023, this is a legitimately good review of 2023. Now, the fact is, he did play through injury and actually his freshman and sophomore seasons are better. So, we can definitely assume he will be better, but we cannot just ignore 2023 snaps either. The truth is somewhere in the middle. We are still not sure he is a Kittle. But he is a damn good prospect. Is he good enough to be a #10, particularly for us? I still don't see it. But I do think teens is the right place for him to go. Our pick is not in teens though and we do have some other major needs. There isn't a single good foundational OT on the roster. Mike is coming off ACL, and GW is also good in the slot, we don't want to explosively play him outside. We don't have enough guys who can line up outside. I just feel like Bowers is a luxury pick and a bit of a reach at 10, considering the opportunity cost of other top prospects that will be available at aforementioned positions.
Basically a Kinkaid. He still cannot line up outside. I also think it would serve us to play GW in the slot more often. He is more explosive and faster than Brock, but to do that you need someone good outside. And you are assuming Hack is even smart enough to use Brock the right way. He is the worst OC in NFL! Look, if top 3 OTs and WRs are gone, and we cannot trade down, I can see us reaching a little bit and taking Brock at 10. I will not be breaking my TV if this happens, but I don't think they will be gone and hope we can snatch one of these. Then Brock will go in teens, where I think his value is.
I'm going to watch on my HOA clubhouse TV so I can break their TV and not mine. LOL. Hey, if the Jets take Bowers at 10, I'll assume they have a good plan for him and I won't judge until I see what happens on the field. I'm against them picking Bowers at 10, but I was also against them picking Sauce when they did, so don't give my opinion much weight.
Well, my TV is only a year old, as I broke last one when JD did idiotic pick swap and we lost Broderick a pick before ours and ended up reaching for McD. So, in case we pick Brock I think this time it is safe, but I would not be too happy and hope there is an opportunity for JD to do better than to reach again.
