The Las Vegas Raiders might not have drafted a quarterback in the first round of this year's draft but they ensured that when they do have a franchise quarterback that he'll have one of the best weapons in the league to throw to. The Raiders used the 13th overall pick on Georgia tight end Brock Bowers and he's been awesome.
Through 12 games, Bowers has 84 receptions for 884 yards and four touchdowns and that's with the likes of Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell throwing him the football. Bowers is fourth in the league in receiving yards trailing Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Terry McLaurin with Trey McBride serving as the next-closest tight end to him in the standings with 781 yards.
In other words, it's been an incredible rookie campaign from Bowers and one would think he'd have to be in the running to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, right? Well, that's not necessarily the case. While Raiders fans think Bowers not winning the award would be a joke, the unfortunate reality is that quarterbacks rule the roost in the NFL and there are two quarterbacks in the running to nab the award.
Let's look at the biggest threads to Bowers for the Offensive Rookie of the Year title for the 2024 season.
Jayden Daniels
The betting favorite as of this writing to be crowned OROTY in 2024 is Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Commanders spent the second overall pick on Daniels and the LSU signal-caller has thrown for 2,819 yards, 15 touchdowns, and six picks while rushing for 590 yards and six scores.
Daniels' electric start to the season helped get the Commanders off to a roaring start, as Washington was 7-2 before a three-game losing streak brought them down to earth a bit more. Daniels has been playing hurt recently and that showed during the losing streak but he still has the Commanders at a surprising 8-5 and has been one of the main reasons why that team is so fun to watch.
Bo Nix
Taken one pick ahead of Bowers was Bo Nix, who the Broncos didn't want to miss out on adding to their offense even if the selection seemed like a major reach at the time. Unfortunately, the Broncos have had the last laugh so far, as Nix has played pretty well during his first 13 games.
Nix has tossed for 2,842 yards, 17 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while rushing for 304 yards and four scores. Denver is 8-5 and in the playoff picture as of now and that's pretty surprising considering how bad their roster looked in the preseason.
The main difference between Daniels and Nix and what their OROTY hopes boil down to is that Daniels flew out of the gate hot. Nix took a bit to get going and was getting dunked on a lot early on but he's been playing much better over the past few weeks. He could be a sneaky threat to end up winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Bucky Irving
All right so this one more than likely isn't happening but I thought I'd at least throw Bucky Irving some love for what he's done this season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent a fourth-round pick on Irving and the Oregon product has been awesome as a rookie, tallying 1,017 yards from scrimmage while scoring six total touchdowns.
The Bucs went from not having much of a run game to now having a pretty dominant one and Irving is to thank for that (at least partially). The Raiders will get a chance to see Irving up close this weekend when the two meet at Raymond James Stadium.
Irving has virtually no chance of winning the OROTY award and Bowers' main competition boils down to if he can do enough to prevent the voters from crowning one of the two quarterbacks listed above. That being said, crazier things have happened and if a non-quarterback was going to win the award and it wasn't Bowers, Irving would be the next option.