Raiders offense: Finding balance is nice, but not at detriment of Brock Bowers

Rookie tight end leads league with 52 receptions heading into Week 9 action

Brock Bowers isn’t one to trumpet his own accolades.

The Las Vegas Raiders rookie tight end has already said he’d rather the team win than talk about his superb statistical output in his initial year in the NFL.

“I mean, I see stuff on Twitter and stuff,” Bowers said when asked about the record pace he’s on. “But our focus is for the team to win games. So, you get on that track.”

Las Vegas hasn’t done much winning, unfortunately for Bower and Co. The team sits at 2-6 overall and in the cellar of an AFC West where the other three teams are above .500. To put it plainly: The Raiders are struggling to not only score points, but stop the opposition from doing so. Such is life for a team that is ranked 26th in scoring offense and 27th in points allowed.

While Las Vegas in the dregs of the NFL standings as a two-win team, it doesn’t mean its without standout performers — which Bowers is. The 21-year-old is a lone constant as pass catcher.

The No. 13 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Georgia leads Las Vegas with 52 receptions — which puts Bowers at second in the NFL in catches as New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson leads the league with 60 — which is a Raiders’ team record after eight games of any season. The 535 yards Bowers churned out on those catches is 11th in the league and tops at the tight end position. San Francisco 49ers tight end Greg Kittle trails the Raiders rookie with 503 yards on 40 receptions. Then it’s the Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride with 446 yards on 42 catches that round out the top three tight ends in the league.

However, like many other pass catchers in the league, Bowers’ productions is dependent on the other 10 Raiders on offense.

To help alleviate the team’s apparent allergy to end zone visits and consistency on offense, the Raiders have attempted to strike balance by exhibiting the bully ball physical run game head coach Antonio Pierce desperately wants. While offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s attempts to get a quality run game going hasn’t been completely futile, but the rankings speak for themselves: Las Vegas has the 31st ranked ground game in yards gained (632). The 3.6 yards per carry average is also second to last in a league of 32 teams.

Veteran running back Alexander Mattison leads that charge with 265 yards and three touchdowns on 83 carries (he’s also caught 22 passes for 195 yards and another touchdown) with fellow tailback Zamir White pitching in 164 yards on 54 carries. The duo averages 3.2 and 3.0 yards per carry, respectively, so it’s not stellar.

Finding balance is nice for Getsy and his Raiders offense, but not at the detriment of Bowers. After garnering double-digit targets Weeks 5-7 (36 looks resulting in 27 receptions for 261 yards and his lone touchdown catch on the year), Bowers saw five targets in the Week 8 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday.

According to Getsy, the lack of looks was a result of Las Vegas having only two lengthy drives in the first half and Kansas City’s offense doing a solid job of maintaining possessions and going on lengthy drives itself.

“Brock is a big part of what we do. And yes, teams are going to be affected by him,” Getsy noted. “And I think now that we start to get some guys back from injury, I think that’ll help all that stuff out, and we’ll continue to play off of that.”

No matter the reason, Getsy has a tight end who can matchup and beat cornerbacks who matchup with wide receivers. That can’t be ignored and must be taken advantage of — especially since the Raiders wide receiver group is miles behind the rookie tight end in production.

“Yeah, I mean absolutely. I mean, that’s the name of this game, right? Your best players got to play their best,” Getsy said when asked of the challenge he faces to continue to ensure Bowers is involved in the gameplan and getting him open for looks as it’s become clear the rookie is having a sensational initial season. “And if you’re going to play the two-time reigning World Champions, you’ve got to make sure that your best players are doing what they do. And so, that’s important always, and that’s always going to be a focus of what we do.”

Getsy better do his damnedest to focus on Bowers. With his totals through eight games, the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder is projected by ESPN to have 111 receptions for 1,137 yards if the Raiders keep up the output. Those marks would shatter the NFL record for rookie catches that was set last year by Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (105 receptions).

In a floundering 2024 campaign, that’d be something to look forward to for the Raiders.

Series History: The Raiders and Bengals have meet 34 times total with the Silver & Black leading the overall series 21-13 (19-12 in regular season games, 2-1 in postseason play). It’s Cincinnati is unbeaten against the Las Vegas variant, however, winning the last two contests — a November 2021 regular season game 32-13 and a 2022 playoff game 26-19. The last game the Raiders won was back in 2019 — a 17-10 victory in Oakland. In the last 10 games between the two teams, the series is even at 5-5.

Quotes of Note:

”Yeah, I think most plays you have a chance if you do it right. Guys can make it right on most plays. And I think there were opportunities there to do it, and we didn’t do it. So, at the end of the day, we got to look at ourselves. Everybody’s got to see, ‘How can I do my job better?’ And I think we are doing that. I feel good about how we’re approaching this week, the attitude of the guys, attitude of the coaches, I think everybody’s coming in and putting their work hat on and ready to get back after it.” —Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew on the debate of play call vs. execution.

“I mean, when you do things like that, those are just like un-scouted looks, right? So you’re going to get, ‘What’s their particular response?’ So then that way, when you move forward, okay when they have an un-scouted look we anticipate, like this is going to be their response. And so when you do something like that, you don’t want to have him always in at the tight end, we’re always running to him, or you’re always running away from him, or you’re always in the protection. You want to make sure that you have enough that they have to be prepared for as they’re going through their game week as well.” —Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on offensive tackle Thayer Munford Jr. lining up at wide receiver for a play against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8.