It does look that way, but I hope that's in the past and the leaks were fixed with recent FO departures. Any WRs who only play slot and cannot line up X or Z effectively go top 10? I don't think so. Do you know why he has that label? It's because he IS a TE. I get all the weapon arguments for Bowers, except this one. He IS a TE. He is NOT a WR. That's a fact. If he could have been an effective inside/outside WR, he would be playing WR in College. WRs make double than TEs. Please let's stick to the facts here. Brock is a great TE prospect. Whether he is good enough to go top 10 is debatable. But he is a TE. NOT a WR.
Pass catchers and offensive weapons in general are not luxuries. Pretty much all of the best teams have them. We're also talking about taking a tackle to be a backup here, at #10 overall...
Why do people act like this doesn't apply to OL as well? OL play is hugely correlated with QB play. Sacks are increasingly looked at as a primarily QB-based stat. Good QBs get the ball out extremely quickly.
"Labels" him a TE? Newsflash, he is a TE. https://georgiadogs.com/sports/football/roster/brock-bowers/7345 He is labeled a TE everywhere, because he IS a TE. Come on, you can have a great opinion about him, but let's not change the facts here. And the fact is, he IS a TE. That is not debatable. At least if you want to have an honest convo.
True, but the point is that he is used in extremely unconventional ways relative to the vast majority of TEs. He's legitimately used more similarly to Deebo Samuel than to any TE in the NFL.
At this point, ignoring pipe dram option, like Harrison, Nabers, Alt, etc, if we stick and pick at 10 (assuming we cannot trade out), I would be happy with Latham, Olu, and Odunze. My preference is OL, but Odunze fills a major need and has a great upside at a premium position of need. After these 3 guys, Bowers is next on my list. If we pick Bowers, I will not be up and arms like last year after JD fucked up the pick swap, lost Broderick, and then picked up Huff's replacement, but won't be super happy either. I also would pick Bowers over Fuaga and Fautanu at #10. I like these guys, but to me they are Guards. I think we can get depth at guard later in the draft or free agency, and I would really like a true OT or WR early in the draft. Bowers, even though a luxury pick, is a damn good player who can help this season, but for me Latham, Odunze, Olu come before him, then Bowers, then Fuaga, Fautanu.
Pitts did that last year with Broderick (not #10, but spent extra capital to jump the Jets at 14) and it worked out very well for them short and long term. True that is he is more versatile, but Deebo is a real WR, who only lined up in the slot 1/3 of the time. And yes he can do more than that. Brock is not the guy you line up X or Z. Oddly enough, he could actually take reps from GW, who is excellent at the slot. If we get Nabers or Odunze, we can use them and GW giving different slot and outside looks. After watching Brock play particularly before injury I think the guy is legit and we can use him. But I would still pick Odunze, Latham, and Olu over him, which would make him a solid pick at about #15, and he is a top 20 player. At #10 though I think one of the 3 above will be there.
This argument makes no sense to me…why are we assuming a rookie Ot can’t be good? Honestly if you look at history, it’s the TE position that has struggled way more as rookies than the tackles
fair but you gotta go back pretty far to find a college TE as productive as Bowers drafted in the 1st round. Most of them were drafted for their skill set
No doubt…and again, I’m not saying Bowers isn’t good. I’m not sure he’ll be Kelce, but I think he’ll be good. The rationale for me is just simply that OT is a more important position than TE in general (again, outside of like 2 guys in Kelce and Kittle), and our need at OT is WAY bigger than our need at TE. And hey, this draft happens to be strong in the two positions we need the most…OT and WR. It would SO Jets to pass up on players where the talent and depth happens to also line up with our biggest needs to draft a freaking TE. There is a reason why TE’s aren’t paid what OTs and WRs are. It’s pretty basic. Those positions carry more value. Our need at those spots is way bigger. All this noise about how we are set at OT and drafting one at 10 would just be insurance or a backup doesn’t hold up. Smith’s injury history speaks for itself. On top of that, neither starting tackle is signed past next year. why pass up a strong tackle class when that just means we will need to draft one next year? Same argument for WR…I like Mike Williams but he’s coming off ACL and again, only signed for one year. to me, as good as Bowers may be, we have bigger needs at more important positions which also happen to be strong in this draft. Go OT or WR at 10 … that’s the smart play to me.
100%. I voted for OT to be honest. I am sick and tired of OL issue and I want it fixed once and for all. BUT what you say here is true. We already have G.Wilson, a home run hitter. We also have Breece another HR hitter. Adding a 3rd HR hitter sounds very sexy especially if Rodgers were to play all 17 games this season. Rodgers and 3 HR hitters on the roster sounds super exciting. This brings me to my next question which you are already commenting in below thread. Is Bowers better than Odunze? That is the only relevant question at this point for me. Can others who watch college football comment on Odunze/Bowers discussion?
of course a tackle is more important in general than a TE. But these particular tackles (outside of Alt) have some question marks. Bowers is simply a better football player. We are talking about slot number 10, if it was slot 5 and Alt was there, hell yeah go with the tackle. But he won’t be there at 10. I don’t think drafting a lesser talent just because of the position he plays is a savvy move. now you wanna move down? Pick up a much needed 2nd, maybe more, and get a tackle in the 1st or 2nd with another impact player. Ok, I’d consider passing on Bowers with that idea.
I have Bowers ranked ahead of Odunze. My kids grew up Dawgs fans so we saw this guy dominate up close and personal for the past 3 seasons in the SEC. Like Breece Hall, get the ball in his hands and he makes things happen. Odunze is a very good player but my biggest concern with him is lack of separation. Led all WRs in contested catch rate but that's partly because he doesn't separate well. He still makes plays, so that's a positive, but hard to translate to the NFL where DBs are far superior. The hardest part for scouts is projecting where a guy will be in 2-3 years. So many "can't miss" prospects peak in college and can't keep up with the superior competition in the NFL. For the record, I think Odunze has a chance to be the best receiver in this class in the long term, but he's got to find ways to create separation and that may not happen right away. For those who insist on the TE title, consider that Bowers only took 44.7% of his snaps at the position. 55.3% of his snaps were in the slot, split out wide, and a handful in the backfield. How do you label that? For this team, where we are right now, Bowers is the pick.
A tackle at 10 would not be a backup. Don’t forget that Morgan Moses is not good. He’s average at best, and he’s old, as evident by the ravens giving him away for a box of tissues. Getting the right guy at 10 (say Fautanu, for example) could start at RT, start at guard over Simpson, or at worst play LT when Smith misses games (which he is guaranteed to do) or when AVT misses games (which he is guaranteed to do) or when Moses misses games. The guy will play for sure.
Come on man, that’s ridiculous. He is not used “unconventionally.” He is used how every other mobile TE is now used. Kelce lines up everywhere, Kittle lines up everywhere, hell even Dalton Kincaid did that for us last year. That’s how the position has evolved. He is not used like Deebo Samuel for christs sake lmao.
Not when you're playing OL out of position. Guys were constantly being moved around. Pocket was collapsing too quickly.
You can say he's older, but he's been a really solid RT his whole career - even last year. If you want to say you think he'll take a step back in 2024, that's a fine prediction, but his being "not good" is wrong I say this setting myself up to be a punchline come Thursday when they draft a CB or something, but I'm coming to feel there are many good outcomes for the 1st round that collectively are extremely likely. I'd be excited about Bowers, Odunze, and really any of the OTs (Olu, Fuaga, Latham, Fautanu), which all have their pros & cons but would be good choices for this year and the future. Any of the above I think would be reasonable and impactful choices.
Thank you for the insight. After @Sundayjack and your endorsement who watched him up close, I am now on Bowers camp if we don't go OT at 10.
Yes, very well aware his position is tight end. But to stop there and not provide any context whatsoever is lazy and probably for a reason. How many TEs in the NFL are a threat to run the ball? How many routinely break free for 8 yards from behind the LOS? He's a tight end that does things tight ends don't do so he affects the entire offense differently. He's a weapon that plays TE, there's a big difference.