Everyone knows the Raiders’ best skill position player is Brock Bowers. But no one can stop him.
Even after undergoing knee surgery just before the start of the season and missing two games, Bowers is on a tear and proving to be the best tight end in the NFL.
312 Receiving Yards
Despite missing the first two games of the season, Bowers is incredibly close to being the top receiving tight end. His 312 yards are second to Sam LaPorta, who has 316 yards.
Bowers is averaging a ridiculous 104 yards per game. In his rookie season, when he topped 1,100 receiving yards, Bowers put up 70.2 yards per game.
35 Targets
This may be a stat about how bad the rest of the Raiders’ skill position players are, but Bowers leads the Raiders in targets. He missed the first two games, but has racked up 35 targets in three games.
Running back Ashton Jeanty is second on the team with 30 looks in the passing game. The Raiders simply don’t have a wide receiver worth throwing to. But other teams know this too and still can’t keep the ball from going to Bowers.
Bowers is already fifth in targets among tight ends this season. If he keeps this up, he will have 175 targets in 15 games.
40.8 snap rate out wide
While Bowers is listed as a tight end, he is used as a wide receiver in the Raiders’ offense. With the lack of productive receivers, Bowers lines up out wide on 40.8 percent of his snaps. That is the highest rate among tight ends in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
Bowers is far and away the most used tight end in this role. Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts lines up out wide on 30.2 percent of his snaps, the second most in the NFL.
The Raiders rarely even let Bowers play with his hand in the dirt. He has taken just a few snaps as an in-line tight end. He plays on the end of the line of scrimmage at the third lowest rate among tight ends.
