Raiders’ Brock Bowers is having one of the best rookie TE seasons ever: How he stacks up vs. all-time greats

A year after Sam LaPorta burst onto the scene for the Detroit Lions, producing one of the most prolific debuts for a tight end in NFL history, Brock Bowers might be even better. Fresh off his second 10-catch effort in three weeks, leading the Las Vegas Raiders with 140 yards in a near-upset of the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs, Bowers is on pace to finish with maybe the best rookie numbers of any tight end ever.

Drafted 13th overall out of Georgia this spring, the 21-year-old Bowers has already set a new Raiders record for catches by a rookie (84); that mark also leads all NFL pass catchers coming out of Week 13. He’s now just three receptions away from breaking LaPorta’s record for rookie-year catches by a tight end (86). And he’s already in the top five when it comes to debut-year receiving yards by a tight end (884), with five games still to play. Not only is he begging to be in the conversation for Offensive Rookie of the Year, but he’s got a chance to surpass some other all-time marks by legends like Hall of Famer Mike Ditka.

Here’s a look at how Bowers’ marks stack up against the best rookie-year tight end marks in NFL history:

Catches

86

Sam LaPorta

Lions

2023

84

Receiving yards

1,076

Mike Ditka

Bears

1961

884

Receiving TDs

12

Mike Ditka

Bears

1961

4

Bowers, of course, would need nine touchdowns over the Raiders’ final five games to break Ditka’s touchdown record, which is highly unlikely. Both the catches and yards records are within reach, however, and depending on Bowers’ involvement to close his rookie campaign, it’s possible he could also produce one of the best receiving seasons of any tight end, not just rookies. The single-season record for yards belongs to Chiefs star Travis Kelce (1,416 in 2020), but if Bowers continues to average 73.7 yards per game for the rest of 2024, he’d finish with 1,252, or the 10th-most of all time.

The catch record for all tight ends, held by…

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Author : Cody Benjamin

Publish date : 2024-12-02 18:41:00

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