Raiders News: Antonio Pierce Calls Brock Bowers ‘Most Dynamic Player’ At TE In College Football

The Las Vegas Raiders were a prime landing spot for one of the quarterback prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.

However, after the top six went right before their pick at No. 13, the Raiders decided to pivot and take Georgia star tight end Brock Bowers.

Bowers was considered one of the best overall players in the draft and it was surprising to see him fall all the way to Las Vegas. However, head coach Antonio Pierce acknowledged Bowers was too good of a prospect to pass on and had high praise for his new tight end via Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk:

“I mean, you’re talking about probably the most dynamic player in college football at that tight end position in a long time,” Pierce said. “It’s rare you get a guy like that [who] can line up as a slot receiver, see him in the backfield, reverses, catch the ball. But I think more importantly, [it’s] his toughness. Watching him block in the SEC, watching him get after guys, I mean that’s what impressed me. Just a gritty player, more importantly a winner, and he can help us score points.”

Pierce also acknowledged he and the team are happy to have Michael Mayer along with Bowers:

“[Y]ou look at the National Football League it’s difficult,” Pierce said. “I mean, being a former player going against 12 personnel, the matchups, the alignments that they get you in, what you do defensively I think becomes an issue as well. But you’re looking at really — I think we’re fortunate to have two tight ends on our roster, that in the last four years of college football were pretty much the best two, and I think hopefully that creates issues. It’s going to create issues for us at practice, we’ll see that. In our division, we’ve got some really good tight ends, so it’ll be good reps for us as well.”

Mayer started to figure things out toward the end of his rookie year, so he and Bowers should form a formidable duo for years to come with their versatility at the tight end spot.

Terrion Arnold claims Raiders used coin toss to select Brock Bowers over him

The first 14 picks of the first round were used on offensive players, though Las Vegas could’ve easily addressed their secondary. Alabama standout Terrion Arnold was a logical choice, and the defensive back revealed that the Raiders used a coin toss to decide between taking him or Bowers.