The Las Vegas Raiders missed out on a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft.
It was not all bad, however, as they selected Georgia's Brock Bowers, who blossomed into an AP First-Team All-Pro in just his first season and made the Pro Bowl after setting and breaking endless records along the way.
Despite his historic rookie season, Bowers still came up short in the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting at the NFL Honors Show on Thursday evening. Instead, the award went to Washington Commanders' quarterback Jayden Daniels, who led his team to the NFC Championship Game this season after the Commanders had the second-worst record in the league a year ago.
While many felt that the voting would be close either way because of how much Bowers stood out among his peers in the tight end group, Daniels ended up winning in a landslide. In fact, only one voter even had Bowers at the top of the ballot.
Quarterbacks, understandably, are weighted as far more important, especially in postseason awards, but that lone Bowers voter took to social media in order to defend his selection:
Brock Bowers had an all-time great season at a position that is not easy to succeed at right out of the gate. Just like Daniels.
— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) February 7, 2025
Daniels won because of the QB bonus in today's game, but it's pretty clear Bowers has a very strong case. https://t.co/4ivzPFpStv
Monson raises a good point that Bowers' rookie season was downright historic. Unfortunately, it happened to occur during another historic rookie season, and it was an uphill battle competing with a quarterback for a major award.
His second-place finish does not take the luster off of his rookie season by any means, as breaking three major records and being named both a First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in just your first year is outstanding. But perhaps being snubbed in a way could put an even bigger chip on Bowers' shoulder, if he even concerns himself about such things.
As fans know, Brock Bowers just loves playing football, and could take or leave the rest of it. Let's just be glad he's playing football in the Silver and Black.