Lynn Bowden Jr. brings a special skill set to the Raiders offense
Lynn Bowden Jr. brings a special skill set to the Raiders offense
How will the Raiders use Lynn Bowden?
Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson recognizes the weapon that he has in Bowden, and recently told The Athletic’s Vic Tafur what he has in store for the former Wildcat:
"“Right now, we have him working out of the running back room, but he’s also had to learn a lot of things that we do at the quarterback position. … You see the game changing, with the use of RPO’s and the Taysom Hills and those types of players, they become valuable. We believe that (Bowden) can transition and be a running back, as well as do some of those plays at the quarterback position that he did in college.” Source: The Athletic"
Taysom Hill had a far more prolific career in college than Bowden but went undrafted likely due to his lengthy injury history and lack of a defined position at the next level. The Saints took this positional ambiguity, and turned it in to a strength, as Hill became an x-factor for them on offense and special teams.
Since 2018, Hill has been used as a gadget player by Sean Payton, and has racked up a 5.5 yards per carry average and scored nine total touchdowns in that span. He lines up in the backfield, out wide, and at quarterback for the Saints, and is a player that the opposition always has to account for.
Based on his position alone, we know that Bowden will get snaps in the backfield and because of his skillset, as a slot wide receiver at Kentucky, he will certainly be lined up out wide as well.
Hill also does tremendous damage as a return man, and was one of the best in the league in kickoff yards per return in 2018. The Raiders may look to Bowden as a return man, as he was quite prolific at it until his full-time switch to quarterback, averaging 22.9 yards per punt return over three years.
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Bowden will not be listed officially as a quarterback by the Raiders, and will instead be at running back, but as Olson says, he will get some looks at the position in certain packages. He gives the offense an added wrinkle and if he can impact games the way Hill has for the Saints then he will be well worth the third round pick.