The Las Vegas Raiders hit the jackpot in the 2024 NFL Draft when Georgia tight end Brock Bowers fell in their laps with the No. 13 overall pick. He proved all those who passed on him wrong by putting together the best rookie season for a tight end in league history.
Heading into Sunday's 2025 NFL season opener against the New England Patriots, Bowers had to fend off talk of a sophomore slump. Repeating his record-setting rookie season is, of course, going to be difficult, but some opinions took the negative possibilities too far.
On the first play of Sunday's game, Geno Smith hit Bowers for a 23-yard completion. Then, he shockingly went quiet, going catch-less until he had two grabs on the final drive of the first half. Why was Bowers a non-factor for so long? Well, we found some data that revealed why.
Brock Bowers overcame all obstacles to squash sophomore slump talk
According to ESPN's Mike Clay, Bowers played just eight of the team's first 19 snaps, whereas Michael Mayer played 10 of them. Pro Football Focus' Nathan Jahnke continued this count until halftime, as Bowers played just 19 of a possible 30 plays.
Based on those numbers, Bowers was on the field for the Raiders' final 11 offensive snaps of the first half on Sunday. So, props to offensive coordinator Chip Kelly for making an in-game adjustment after three straight three-and-out drives.
But to make matters more confusing, according to Hayden Winks, Las Vegas was seemingly not prioritizing Bowers in one-tight-end sets. Of the first 14 snaps in such personnel groupings, Bowers only played four of them, while Mayer and Thomas played the other 10.
In the second half, Bowers came alive. His next two catches went for 30 and 38 yards, respectively, to put him over 100 yards for the day on just five catches, three of which came on 20-plus yard plays.
In the fourth quarter, Bowers left the game with a left knee injury that had fans concerned. Fortunately, he offered his own injury update to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero to quell the concerns Raider Nation (and Bowers' fantasy managers) had about a potential absence going forward.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore noted that Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said Bowers wanted to return to the game, but the training staff held him out. With a 10-point lead, and iffy field conditions at Gillette Stadium, caution became the plan.
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Overall, according to Pro Football Focus, and with the necessary context of his early exit, Bowers played just 32 of the Raiders' 63 offensive snaps on Sunday. In 11 personnel (one tight end), according to Jahnke, Bowers played just 15 of 27 snaps over the first three quarters of the game.
Jahnke broke it down further, noting how Bowers played just three of 14 early down snaps when the Raiders were in 11 personnel over the first three quarters, outside of the aforementioned two-minute drill to end the first half.
Prowess as a blocker surely shifted the early down 11 personnel snaps toward Michael Mayer, and away from Bowers. But Bowers ran 25 routes according to PFF and had just eight targets against the Patriots.
If fans are being honest, they know that the Raiders won't have a lot of games where they hold an opponent to 13 points this season. They will have to utilize Bowers more if they want to score more than the 20 they did on Sunday.
Bowers overcame a less-than-ideal snap share, bad field conditions and an injury to post over 100 yards in the first game of his second season. His injury is worth monitoring, of course, but any real talk of a sophomore slump is now gone.