Davis Mattek doubled down on Brock Bowers’ monster ceiling, saying the second-year tight end can flat-out lead the entire NFL in fantasy points among pass catchers—yes, even outscoring Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson. Mattek called Bowers’ rookie campaign "the second-best 22-year-old tight end season ever" and expects the normal second-year leap to unlock another level. He dismissed depth-chart competition—listing Jack Bech, Trey Tucker, Dante Thornton, Tommy Mellott, Michael Mayer, and Ian Thomas—as non-threats and predicted that Bowers plus rookie RB Ashton Gentry could account for more than 50 percent of all Raiders plays. Add Chip Kelly’s pace-driven system and Geno Smith’s accuracy, and Mattek argues positional scarcity is irrelevant: Bowers simply projects as one of the league’s best players, period. His advice for Best Ball and season-long drafters is to prioritize Bowers aggressively, ignoring lineup construction dogma if necessary.

Davis Mattek said Brock Bowers should be drafted confidently at his early-second-round Underdog ADP despite projection models being lukewarm. Mattek highlighted that Bowers just produced 153 targets, 112 grabs, 1,188 yards, and 599 yards after the catch on a 6.6-yard aDOT—numbers no tight end age 22 or younger has ever reached. He compared the age-adjusted trajectory to early-career Rob Gronkowski and noted Bowers’ elite YAC skill (more than CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, or George Kittle last year). Mattek argued the situation has actually improved: Geno Smith (17th in EPA/play, 15th in EPA+CPOE composite) is a massive upgrade on last year’s Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew combo, while Chip Kelly’s tempo-driven offense should keep overall play volume high. Mattek views a 17-TD ceiling as realistic if Smith unlocks more seam and red-zone work, making Bowers one of the few tight ends who can truly separate at the position in Best Ball tournaments.

Davis Mattek doubled down on his Bowers stance, saying the rookie tight end has a non-crazy path to finishing as the single highest-scoring pass catcher in fantasy— ahead of Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson. Mattek framed Bowers’ historic age-22 production plus 599 YAC as proof he already wins like an elite wideout. Because tight end scarcity does not concern him, Mattek prioritizes ceiling: Chip Kelly’s pace and Geno Smith’s willingness to pepper short and intermediate routes set up a volume/YAC combo few receivers can match. Mattek is willing to draft Bowers in the mid-second round and would not blink if he sneaks into the late first on Underdog.

Davis Mattek said Brock Bowers should be taken confidently at his early-second-round ADP on Underdog because the rookie already cleared every historical hurdle for early tight-end dominance and now walks into a far better environment. Bowers produced 153 targets, 112 catches, 1,196 yards and 599 yards after the catch as a 22-year-old, something even Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski failed to do that young. Mattek noted Bowers led all NFL pass-catchers in YAC over names like CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson, which Chip Kelly (now calling plays in Las Vegas) will continue to weaponize as an extension of the run game. Chip’s NFL teams have ranked top-11 in both rush AND pass attempts in three of four seasons, signaling pace is unlikely to crater even if the Raiders add seven rushes per game. Quarterback play also improves: Geno Smith ranked 17th in EPA per play and 15th in EPA+CPOE composite last year, miles ahead of Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell, so red-zone efficiency can jump from Bowers’s fluky five-TD line to a ceiling Mattek says could reach the mid-teens. Given the lack of early-round tight-end separation, Mattek believes Bowers owns legitimate TE1 overall upside and is a smash despite projections that struggle to model a 13-touchdown breakout.

Pat Kerrane called Brock Bowers the single biggest buying opportunity of 2025 drafts, arguing he should be a mid-first but is slipping to the 2/3 turn. Bowers owns a better college production profile than Travis Kelce and, unlike one-dimensional ‘big slot’ types, can actually run-block, keeping him on the field for play-action and red-zone snaps. The Raiders landed Geno Smith, whose league-high accuracy rate and top-10 EPA per drop-back over the past two years mesh perfectly with Bowers’ middle-of-field dominance. With no established target hog on the roster, Kerrane expects Bowers to immediately command 25-plus percent of targets and threaten 1,000 yards—numbers we have never been able to draft outside Round 1 at tight end. He warned next summer we will be debating whether 1.06 is too late to take him, so hoard shares while he is still a ‘discount.’

Wyatt Bertolone said Brock Bowers is still undervalued at a TE1, 15.7 overall ADP in Underdog Best Ball drafts despite already smashing as a rookie. Bowers set the NFL rookie reception record for any position, averaged 15.5 PPR points (third among tight ends), and produced three 20-plus point spike weeks, a profile only a handful of TEs can match. Bertolone expects an even bigger ceiling in year two as the former Georgia star grows more comfortable and benefits from a quarterback upgrade to Geno Smith. Because elite tight‐end spike weeks create a massive weekly win-rate edge, Bertolone called Bowers a 2025 flag-plant and advised drafting him every time he is available in the second round.

Discussing FFPC’s 1.5-PPR for tight ends, Strachan highlighted Brock Bowers as the archetype who maximizes the format’s scoring quirks. In 2024 Bowers produced the 17th-most points of ANY non-QB skill player thanks to the bonus half-point per catch, while fellow volume TE Trey McBride ranked 28th. Because many tight ends lack target volume, only the true pass-catching alphas gain a material edge; drafting Bowers allows drafters to soak up WR-level production at a onesie position and differentiate lineups in playoff weeks.

Reviewing the roster, Joey B said he "loves not going three tight end when we've got Brock Bowers." The rookie projects as a weekly difference-maker, so pairing him with one upside option like Tyler Warren is enough, whereas a third tight end would be "just a Friar Muth"-level floor play that wastes a valuable roster spot. Joey believes a 2-TE build anchored by Bowers frees extra picks for late-round RB and WR darts, maximizing ceiling and advance rates in Best Ball Mania’s half-PPR format.

Davis Mattek endorsed taking rookie Brock Bowers early and then waiting until the late teens for a second tight end—Tyler Higbee in this draft—because "if Brock Bowers doesn’t do it, no one’s going to." Mattek expects Bowers to step into an every-down role and flirt with a 20% target share immediately, giving him weekly 20-point upside that other tight ends in his price range lack. In a two-TE best-ball structure, that ceiling justifies punting the backup spot until the final rounds, letting drafters spend earlier capital on premium wide receivers and contingency-based running backs instead of redundant mid-tier tight ends.

Tom Strachan called Brock Bowers a cheat code in FFPC TE-premium best ball formats that award an extra 0.5 PPR to tight ends. Bowers finished 2024 as the 17th-highest scoring non-QB skill player, while fellow volume TE Trey McBride ranked 28th, illustrating how the bonus inflates elite tight ends. Strachan highlighted Bowers’ 24% target share and consistent red-zone usage, traits that translate directly into premium scoring. He urged drafters to take Bowers earlier than standard-format ADP, arguing that the positional edge he provides is worth the early-round cost.

Anthony Dabbundo called Brock Bowers a generational offensive weapon and predicted he will top 1,000 receiving yards again in Year 2. Dabbundo reminded listeners Bowers just shattered the rookie tight-end records with 112 catches and 1,194 yards, obliterating the previous receptions mark of 86. The tout trusts Geno Smith to keep funneling volume to the tight end, noting Bowers produced at every stop—from a run-heavy Georgia program to a Raiders offense still searching for a true WR1. Las Vegas plays nine games inside Allegiant’s dome and travels to other indoor venues in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, so weather rarely caps passing volume. Dabbundo framed Bowers as a locked-in top-three fantasy tight end and a viable Offensive Player of the Year long-shot, urging season-long drafters to treat him like a mid-second-round wide receiver.

Steve Palazzolo identified rookie Brock Bowers as the next tight end poised to join the fantasy elite. Bowers functioned as a slot receiver at Georgia, set the NCAA single-season reception record for the position, and averaged 10.7 yards per catch while absorbing massive defensive attention. Palazzolo expects the Raiders to leverage that receiver-like skill set rather than ask him to block in-line, driving immediate route volume and 90-catch upside. Although Bowers is “nowhere near George Kittle” as a blocker, Palazzolo framed that as a fantasy positive because fewer blocking assignments mean more pass routes and PPR points.

Cody Woodman said he is fading Brock Bowers at his current seventh-/eighth-round Best Ball Mania price tag. Woodman argued the tight-end premium people hope to buy often disappears when quarterbacks post a flat scoring week—he pointed to an unstacked Jared Goff lineup that took down Weekly Winners last season as proof the position can be neutralized. Bowers never logged a 30-point game in college, is still acclimating as a rookie, and now shares the short and intermediate routes with 2023 second-rounder Michael Mayer in what projects to be a run-leaning Raiders offense. Woodman would rather back-load the position with cheaper options like Hunter Henry or Mike Gesicki and spend that early capital on wide receivers who can actually differentiate a lineup in Weeks 15-17.

Andy Holloway said he would have snapped up Brock Bowers in the fifth-to-sixth-round range because Bowers is one of just seven "onesie" difference makers on the entire draft board. Holloway’s elite tier includes Bowers, Trey McBride and George Kittle at tight end plus the quartet of top quarterbacks (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels). Once those seven names are gone, he shifts back to loading up on running backs and receivers because the next tight-end group—T.J. Hockenson, Sam LaPorta, Jonnu Smith, David Njoku and even Travis Kelce—offers weekly floor but no true league-winning ceiling. Holloway’s takeaway: if Bowers is still there when the elite quarterbacks are drying up, pull the trigger; if he’s gone, punt the position until the late rounds.

Davis Mattek cautioned that Brock Bowers (and to a lesser extent Trey McBride) should slide down your Eliminator draft board because their week-to-week scoring doesn’t separate enough in a median-focused contest. He compared positional deltas and noted that RB24 typically outscores RB36 by roughly 4.5 half-PPR points per week, while TE6 only beats TE12 by about 1.8. That narrower gap means spending a late-third/early-fourth pick on Bowers forfeits the larger edge you could gain by drafting a running back such as rookie Bucky Irving in the same range. Mattek added that ceiling games are de-emphasized in head-to-head Eliminator play—your lineup just needs to avoid a dud, not post a 99th-percentile week—so the occasional 30-pointer Bowers offers is less valuable than a back who can bank 12-to-18 every Sunday. Until his ADP drops a full round Mattek is fading expensive tight ends, instead grabbing mid-tier options later and reinvesting the early capital at running back and wide receiver where the weekly replacement level is harsher.

Pat Fantasy Dog Pound declared that if Brock Bowers is available around pick 19, "you just have to take him." He praised a Bowers-Jahmyr Gibbs opening as a "pretty fun" start that locks in elite weekly upside at a onesie position before the wide-receiver tiers flatten out. Pat noted that investing in Bowers that early frees drafters from chasing replacement-level tight ends later, allowing them to hammer receivers through the soft middle rounds. Bottom line: passing on Bowers in the late-teens is a mistake because the positional edge he offers dwarfs the marginal value of the wideouts normally drafted there.

Pat Fantasy Dog Pound said the market over-corrected on Brock Bowers, who is now slipping into the 16-17 range of BBM6’s 18-round drafts. Pat prefers the rookie there because elite tight ends let drafters comfortably stop at two TEs and still capture weekly ceiling. With only 18 roster spots, that roster-spot savings matters more than in 20-round formats. He argued the crowd is double-counting risk—yes, Bowers must finish as a top-one or top-two tight end to pay off, but you are being paid via a full-round discount to take that bet. Pat is "on the Bowers click" whenever he slides past pick 160 and views him as the last tight end who can truly separate from the field in single-week upside.