By Ross Jackson
Positional value may have impacted discourse around selecting a tight end in the first round of the NFL Draft, but it didn’t stop the Las Vegas Raiders from taking one of the best weapons in the 2024 draft at No. 13 overall.
Former Georgia tight end Brock Bowers has been a thrill to watch in the Raiders offense. While the team is struggling with its 3-12 record, Bowers has been the bright spot.
The New Orleans Saints defense will now be tasked with dulling his shine a bit on Sunday as the Raiders travel to the Big Easy. Doing so, however, won’t be easy.
Bowers leads all tight ends in the NFL with 1,067 receiving yards, which ranks No. 8 across the league regardless of position. George Kittle (967) is the closest tight end behind Bowers.
The Saints have a reputation for not defending tight ends well. But throughout 2024, that narrative has been challenged a bit. New Orleans is just below the middle of the pack around the league in defending tight ends from a receiving yards standpoint.
The 819 yards receiving they have given up to tight ends is just the fourteenth-most in the NFL. They are also, along with the Los Angeles Chargers, one of the only teams to surrender just one touchdown catch to tight ends as well. Every other team has allowed two or more.
For all of his yardage, Bowers has only caught four touchdown passes so far this season.
Where the big-bodied pass-catcher poses the biggest threat to New Orleans will be with the ball in his hands.
Per Next Gen Stats, Bowers has racked up the most yards after catch among all NFL tight ends. On the flipside, the Saints have surrendered the NFL’s second-most yards after catch to opponents with 2,056 yards gained after opposing players make a catch. The Jacksonville Jaguars lead the way giving up 2,284. The Saints are the NFL’s worst with plus-476 yards per catch over expected allowed.
The “over expected” metric compares actual yards gained on a specific play (in this case yards after the catch) to those expected to be gained on an individual play.
A lot of the success or failure of the Saints’ defense will come down to their ability to limit Bowers. If they can, the game will remain manageable. If they cannot, things could be a bit more challenging than many may expect going up against a 3-12 team.
