Silver And Black Pride
Brock Bowers is that dude.
The Las Vegas Raiders second-year tight end had a phenomenal record-setting rookie campaign and proved all the draft prognosticators right when they dubbed the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft an pro-ready prospect. Hauling in 112 passes for 1,194 yards with five touchdowns, the records, First-Team All-Pro, and Pro Bowl accolades Bowers garnered was simply proof of that.
And at just 22 years old (won’t turn 23 until Dec. 13), the Georgia product still has untapped potential.
Heading into the 2025 season, Bowers now has a legitimate starting quarterback Geno Smith distributing the ball and a creative Chip Kelly at offensive coordinator instead of a duo of mediocrity at signal caller, two offensive coordinators who are no longer calling plays with their new teams.
All of which makes Bowers’ sophomore campaign in Silver & Black all the more tantalizing.
Las Vegas season opener on the road at the New England Patriots this Sunday should feature this: A whole lot of Brock.
By all accounts, the Raiders ran vanilla schemes in all three phases during preseason tilts. And we should see Kelly’s full gamut of play calling starting in Week 1 and beyond. We saw fleeting glimpses of the offensive coordinator’s ability to scheme receiving options open along with varying differences in blocking schemes in the run game.
Expect more variation in alignments, pre-snap motion, and putting his players in the best possible position to succeed by being flexible and not rigid when it comes to Kelly’s philosophy and beliefs.
With an experienced quarterback Smith helming the offense, Las Vegas’ play caller is going to lean on the veteran signal caller both in terms of execution and idealization.
“They’re doing great. I think part of it leads from Geno, because Geno’s been around. He’s played for a lot of coaches, and he’s been in league for a while,” Kelly said of the Raiders adaptation to his offense. “There’s been a lot of collaboration with him. He’s got a great point of view in terms of the game of football. He the smartest guy I’ve ever been around playing the game. So, really excited about what he feels comfortable in. And that’s what this deal is, when we’re going in these games, is, what do our players feel comfortable in? Because it really doesn’t matter what we know, because we’re not playing the game. It’s really, ‘How does Geno feel in terms of game plan’, and he has a lot of input on it. And so we’ll kind of roll from there.”
To get the Raiders offense rolling, a constant Smith-Bowers connection is a must-do in New England. To maximize both offensive output on defensive stress on the Patriots, Kelly would be wise to place Bowers in multiple spots in a variety of alignments: Traditional in-line tight end, out wide at the X or Z, in the slot, and in the backfield. Kelly spent a long time in the collegiate game — most recently...
