Tom Telesco Spoke On Raiders’ Decision To Take Brock Bowers
Can you believe it?! The Las Vegas Raiders somehow managed to make a good pick in the first round! The assumption leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft was that the Raiders and new GM Tom Telesco were going either Quarterback, Offensive Tackle, or Cornerback, all of which were needed on this team. However, they turned in the card for the number three player on Trey’s big board TE Brock Bowers.
I don’t think anyone saw tight end at pick No. 13, especially after this team drafted Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer in the second round of last year’s draft. This decision left some fans confused, but in a transcript from the Raiders after the selection, Tom Telesco shed some light on why they made the selection.
Full quote via PFT via nbcsports.com:
“[W]ith a player like Brock, just with the scouting staff, where they had him, what they thought about him, what the coaching staff thought, he was really pretty a consensus guy,” Telesco said Thursday, via transcript from the team. “Makes it a little bit easier, fully knowing that we have Michael Mayer, who is an excellent tight end, but there’s no rule in the NFL that you can only play one. We can play two tight ends, we can move people around.
“At Notre Dame, Michael was split out sometimes as a receiver. Brock has been split as a receiver, Brock’s even played some running back, and then our receivers can go inside and outside, so it’ll be a nice little group to work with.”
I think the real question we should be asking ourselves here is did Tom Telesco come to his senses and realize this organization drafted Michael Mayer way too early, or that he just might not be very good? Brock Bowers will walk into the team facility and immediately become the TE1 on the depth chart. Bowers, draft profile here, is as surefire a draft prospect as there is, something Trey has known for three years now. The Bowers selection by Telesco hopefully marks the start of a new era in terms of drafting for the Las Vegas Raiders.
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