Brock Bowers: Everything, Everywhere, (Almost) All The Time

What can you say about Brock Bowers that hasn’t already been said? I believe I could make a compelling argument that the Napa Nightmare is the best football player, regardless of position, to have donned the red and black in the past decade. He certainly a fan favorite, both for his production on the field, aw shucks interview style, and reputation as a great teammate and fierce competitor.

How will that translate over to the pro game? Well, that’s the multimillion dollar question for teams selecting in the first round of tonight’s NFL Draft.

Brock By The Numbers

Some players arrive in college and take some time to get warmed up. Many come in with little fanfare, but leave following successful college careers. Brock Bowers did neither of these things. He arrived in Athens to much fanfare as an highly-touted recruit and didn’t disappoint even one little bit as a true freshman in 2021. Bowers lead the Bulldogs in receptions (56), receiving yards (882) and touchdowns (13) on a team that won a national championship. He was named First Team All-SEC and the SEC Freshman of the Year. In short, he accomplished more in his first season of college football than 99.9% of student athletes will in a career.

And then somehow, he got even better. As a sophomore Bowers would again earn second team All- American honors, and First Team All-SEC honors. He also caught 62 passes for 942 yards on his way to winning the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end, And became a finalist for the Lombardi Award, presented to the nations top lineman. Oh, he also won another one of those national championships Florida and Tennessee fans have heard so much about.

And but for a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss four games and be limited in two others, he likely would have done even more preposterous things as a junior. Bowers still managed to lead the team with 56 receptions, 714 receiving yards and 6 receiving TDs despite that injury. Statistical extrapolation can be dangerous in sports. But the 71.4 yards per game Bowers averaged in 2023 would have put him on pace to break the 1,000 yard mark if he’d been able to play Georgia’s other four games. As it was he again won the Mackey Award, making him the first two-time recipient in the award’s history.

Scouting Report: There’s a Brock for That.

More than one opposing collegiate coach and NFL personnel-type has referred to Brock Bowers as a “Swiss Army knife.” It is about as apt a description as I could give. Obviously the 6’3, 240 pound Bowers is a matchup nightmare in the passing game. He has the size of a tight end, runs the ball like an H-Back, has route-running skills on par with any wide receiver, and open field acceleration and top end speed that beggars belief.

His hands are among the best I’ve seen in college football in the past decade, regardless of position. The guy just doesn’t drop passes within his catch radius, and somehow hoovers up balls outside of it.

Frighteningly, of Bowers 2500+ receiving yards in Athens, almost 20% (486) of them actually came after the catch. Denying him the ball is a good start. But if you don’t accomplish that, bringing him to the ground is a whole new nightmare.

In short, Brock Bowers just isn’t fair.

Nobody’s Perfect (Yet)

Does Brock Bowers have any weaknesses? Well, I heard he once forgot to tip his Uber Eats driver because the food arrived while he was busy saving his neighbor’s kids from a marauding mountain lion.

But also, he’s not necessarily an elite in-line blocker. He’s a very good blocker, exceptionally so in downfield situations. But the math is the math, and the math is that Brock Bowers is 6’3, 240 not 6’5, 265, which is closer to what NFL scouts would consider perfect measurables for a tight end they’ll be stacking up against NFL defensive ends in short yardage situations. Even the most advanced Swiss Army knife doesn’t have every single tool. So he may have to come off the field when the jumbo package is in.

It also remains to be seen how Bowers’ game will adapt to the NFL where personnel mismatches are harder to come by. As observant Bulldog fans will know, some of Brock’s eye-popping numbers came against teams (even SEC teams) that just didn’t have anybody on the field to body him up.

Todd Monken and Mike Bobo both took advantage of that to merciless effect at times. But in the NFL, where the corners are bigger and the linebackers quicker those gaping matchup holes will be less frequent.

That being said, it’s worth remembering that Bowers is only three years removed from playing in California’s Vine Valley Athletic League, and probably hasn’t reached his full physical or mental development yet. He’s also a legendary workout warrior, who’ll almost certainly refine his game over the next couple of seasons. I expect his best football is still ahead of him, which should be a scary prospect for opponents. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!