Tight ends do not get drafted in the top half of the first round very often, but when they do, they better be dominant.

That’s exactly what Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers has been this year after being drafted 13th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Bowers was not only named the NFL’s Rookie of the Month for November, but he leads the league with 84 receptions, and his 884 receiving yards ranks fourth. He will pose a big problem for the Bucs defense on Sunday, a unit that has had issues stopping opposing tight ends this season.

To contain Bowers, they’ll have to pull out all the stops to stop someone already in the conversation of being the best tight end in the NFL.

Brock Bowers Is Already One Of The Best TEs In The NFL – If Not The Best

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce and Raiders TE Brock Bowers – Photo by: USA Today

You know the names.

Travis Kelce.

George Kittle.

Those two tight ends have garnered the reputation of being the best at the position in recent years. That was until Brock Bowers entered the mix.

During his time at Georgia, Bowers put together an impressive resume of high-level play, and that is something Bucs head coach Todd Bowles knows quite well. Bowles’ son Troy is a linebacker on the Bulldogs and he watched him play there last season, which also afforded him to see the talented tight end up close.

Tampa Bay’s defensive play-caller shared his assessment of Bowers entering the league.

“I thought he was one of the best tight ends coming out in a long time – not just this draft, but in a long time,” Bowles said. “He’s living up to expectations. He can play wideout, he can play tight end, he can do some fullback, he can run jet sweeps. They do a lot of things with him and he’s a very talented guy.”

While he can do a lot of things to stretch the defense, his route-running ability is something that stands out.

“He’s a very good route runner,” Bowles added. “He’s a very good route runner. He can power you, he can finesse you – whatever the situation allows, he can get it done.”

The Bucs Have Struggled Against Opposing Tight Ends

Bucs LB Lavonte David and co-DC Larry Foote – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Stopping the 2-10 Raiders starts and ends with tight end Brock Bowers and defensive end Maxx Crosby. While the Bucs’ offense is focused on Crosby, the defense will have their hands full with Bowers.

It’s going to take a coordinated effort, one that co-defensive coordinator Larry Foote discussed extensively this week.

“You have to have a lot of eyes on him,” Foote said. “You have to be ready, even if we double-team him, everybody’s double-teaming him. He looks like one of those guys – the [Travis] Kelce’s of the world and he’s dominant. He’s got a lot of skills, he’s good after the catch. That’s going to be very important for us, but we have to just play. We have to take the challenge head-on and know where he’s at.”

It’s a challenge the Bucs have had no answers for against opposing tight ends this season, which is fully outlined here.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and DB Tykee Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Should the Bucs place two defenders on Bowers to try and take him out of the game, one would have to assume that inside linebacker Lavonte David is one of them. With K.J. Britt not participating in practice this week with an ankle injury and struggling in coverage throughout the season, David will likely be the linebacker who draws this assignment. While “LVD” may have been able to neutralize Bowers in the past, the veteran linebacker has lost a step at 34 years old.

That means a second player will need to help David out, preferably a physical defensive back who can stay in lockstep. Rookie nickel back Tykee Smith has missed the last three games with a knee injury, but no one on the defense would know how to stop the tight end better than his former Bulldogs teammate.

Smith has been the Bucs’ best playmaker in the secondary when healthy, and if he cannot go it does leave some cause for concern, especially as Jordan Whitehead remains out with a pectoral injury and Mike Edwards left the last game with a hamstring injury.

Brock Bowers Can Separate – And Has Separated Himself With His Elite Play

Regardless of whoever lines up to face Brock Bowers, they must limit the amount of separation he generates.

“Yeah, I mean, speed – he’s fast and he definitely gets separation,” Larry Foote said. “He’s great after the catch. [He has] a lot of YAC (yards after catch) yards and he’s impressive.”

That last part is something that has been the Achilles’ heel of the Bucs’ defense this season. They have seen Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts burn them with his athleticism in two games this season, and Pitts and others have had success separating up the middle of the field with players slow to react.

Bowers made life easy for whoever has thrown him the ball this season by getting open, but he has also separated himself from other tight ends across the league and reminds Foote of one of the best tight ends in NFL history – and someone who donned the red and pewter.

Raiders TE Brock Bowers – Photo by: USA Today

“He looks fast,” Foote added. “He looks younger, he’s fresher but he looks like a wide receiver. I’m telling you, there are certain times you don’t know if he’s a wide receiver or not when you see his cuts. I always tell those guys when I played against the greats like [Rob] Gronkowski and them, that’s the difference – when those tight ends can stick and get separation, you better be on your Ps and Qs because he’s dangerous.”

A recipe for success in Foote’s mind is making the Raiders one-dimensional to the point that second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell has to pass and they know what’s coming. O’Connell had a career game against the Chiefs last week, a product of Las Vegas keeping it close in Kansas City.

“They’re a tough, big team up front so we have to stop the run,” Foote said about disrupting O’Connell’s confidence through the air. “We know their weapons. He’s poised in the pocket when you watch him. He knows what to do with the ball, he gets it out, so we just have to play our game. Every week, we want to try to make a team one-dimensional, stop the run and try to grab an advantage.”

For more insight into how the Bucs must gameplan stopping Brock Bowers, check out the latest Pewter Report Podcast.