![LA Rams]()
Brock Bowers was widely considered one of the better all-around tight end prospects to hit the NFL Draft in the past decade or so, but with concerns about his frame holding up in the pros and the dubious value of the position, speculation swirled about how high he'd be drafted.
The Los Angeles Rams have won a Super Bowl within the past couple of years. They've had a, "F**k them picks" philosophy that
GM Les Snead proudly wore on a T-shirt at their championship parade. Elite head coach Sean McVay knows a thing or two about offensive football. And when Snead
has picked in the draft, rather than mortgage future assets for another superstar, he's made out very well.
Prior to LA's wholesome but savvy decision to
reunite Florida State stars Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, bolstering their front seven in the wake of Aaron Donald's retirement, they were all-in on Bowers. The former Georgia tight end is confirmed to have been the Rams' target. They tried to move up with the Jets at No. 10 overall, and made another push when Minnesota moved up one spot to draft
Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy. Snead served up three premium picks for the rights to Bowers in another offer.
https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1801649196551856185
https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1801715808189530590
Talk about desperation. I feel like the Rams made the right call in the end. Kobie Turner was a surprise hit on their defensive line last season, but they really needed help and depth on their front seven. In fact, thanks to the selections of Verse and Fiske, along with pretty much the entire rest of their draft,
the Rams had my fourth-favorite rookie class of any team in the league.
https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/1801724312090722614
Those who work in and around the NFL must know that us football junkies desperately need this sort of content. We have a lot of idle time until training camps open. Like,
Deadpool & Wolverine will come out before that happens. Only then will we really start to get a clearer picture of what to expect from these 2024 draftees.
Not to lose the plot too much. Bowers wound up being drafted 13th overall by the Las Vegas Raiders. It was a rather surprising pick, considering they just acquired ex-Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer with last year's 35th overall selection. The NFL Draft is a total roll of the dice with every decision made. Sometimes, as a collective football operation, you need to be protected from yourselves. To me, it was serendipitous that the Rams missed out on Bowers, because their defense would be a whole lot thinner otherwise.
It made sense for the Jets to stay put, too, and take their hopeful left tackle of the future in Penn State's Olu Fashanu. With all the wheeling and dealing that happened in the 2024 draft in particular, all teams involved benefited from Bowers going to Vegas rather than LA. However, if Bowers ends up being the YAC machine Swiss Army Knife many project him to be, and the Rams' young defense isn't ready to roll this season, perhaps we'll look back on this as a massive "What if?" scenario.
I do see why McVay was so intrigued by Bowers. Matthew Stafford can straight-up sling it with the best of 'em. Putting Bowers on the field with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua would create mismatches everywhere for Stafford to capitalize on. We'll never know what that looks like. Perhaps in-the-weeds fantasy football owners are grieving this missed opportunity, too.
https://twitter.com/TheOGfantasy/status/1801654726041256275
