Silver And Black Pride
Record-setting tight end one of the true bright spots as Las Vegas inhabits bottom of several rankings
Brock to the Future. That’s the best way to sum up the national power rankings that feature the Las Vegas Raiders.
Brock Bowers, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, is getting major love across the board as the tight end is one of the true bright spots for a moribund franchise. He’s setting franchise and league records and is arguably the lone productive and reliable weapon in Scott Turner’s offense.
The Raiders overall, however, are not getting much love. The team is at the bottom of several NFL power rankings as it’s become Silver & Bleak season.
So let’s take a look at the Week 12 rankings as the Raiders embark in their preparation for a matchup with AFC West foe Denver Broncos.
32. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 32
Knowing the way things tend to work for the league’s major awards, there’s no real chance a tight end wins this honor in a year where rookie quarterbacks have owned so much real estate with the national media. But if we’re comparing the level of play and impact relative to position and one’s peers, I don’t know if any rookie is having a better year than Brock Bowers. He’s currently 10th among all pass catchers in receiving yards and has more yards after the catch than wide receivers like Zay Flowers, CeeDee Lamb, and Deebo Samuel. Bowers is effectively the no. 1 receiver in Las Vegas’s offense, and he’s dynamic enough to be an engine for this team. Bowers deserves your eyeballs down the stretch, and it’d be nice if Las Vegas builds something around him in the coming years.
The Ringer is correct: In a quarterback-driven league, a rookie signal caller is likely to get rookie of the year nods. But that isn’t to say Bowers isn’t deserving. He impacts the Raiders as much as a quarterback can as he’s able to torch a variety of defenders and runs routes like a wide receiver and not a traditional tight end. Bowers is so productive with bootstraps of quarterbacks Las Vegas deploys that it merits this notion: If the Georgia tight end can produce with suspect signal callers, imagine what he can do with a decent quarterback.
31. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 31
The Raiders have lost six straight, with their next four games coming against teams still very much in the playoff race. Although they kept close with Miami well into the second half, the Raiders’ defense imploded in the final 20-plus minutes, and the offense couldn’t keep pace. This was the first game with Scott Turner running the offense, and the results were not that bad. Brock Bowers was fed properly, totaling career highs in catches (13) and yards (126) and catching his third TD of the season. That and some...
