Wild Week 7 stat proves Raiders have an All-Pro hiding in plain sight

Even considering the expectations, this Raiders season has been a disaster. After a road win against the Ravens in Week 2, the Raiders have:

- Lost four of their last five games
- Gotten worked by Andy Dalton and the Carolina Panthers at home
- Alienated their star wide receiver with weird Instagram drama
- Traded said star wide receiver after weird Instagram drama
- Benched their starting quarterback after five weeks
- Lost their new starting quarterback for at least a month with a broken thumb
- Not even played the Chiefs yet

RELATED: Antonio Pierce's reaction to Davante Adams trade request will infuriate Raiders fans

It's been about as disastrous as a football season can get, and we're not even halfway done. And despite all the awful football that's been played over the first seven weeks of football this year, there is one shining star that's lighting the way for Raiders fans: Brock Bowers. Bowers – who you may remember as the tight end the Raiders picked over Bo Nix – is legitimately already one of the best tight ends in football. And frankly, I think there's an argument to be made that he is the best tight end in football this year.

Brock Bowers is already playing like a 1st Team All Pro Tight End

And while this fact isn't technically true right now – Chris Godwin has three more catches as of Tuesday, but his season ended on Monday night – it speaks to how quiet Bowers' breakout season has been so far. Do you think the average NFL fan knows that up until 24 hours ago, Bowers led the entire NFL in catches? I didn't even know that, and it's my job to write about the Raiders. He's also 6th in targets and 8th in total receiving yards, closely grouped with guys like Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, Nico Collins, and DK Metcalf.

Just to repeat myself: the Raiders are getting Justin Jefferson levels of production from their *tight end.* I know that Bowers is a more-or-less a tight end in name only, but that's still an insane sentence to say outloud. Minus any injury issues, he'll almost certainly make his first Pro Bowl this season, and it's not unreasonable to think that he may end up on a 1st Team All-Pro. He came in with sky-high expectations and has blown even those out of the water. Maybe there is some hope after all.