Super Bowls. Endorsements. Taylor Swift. It's a good time to be a tight end in the NFL.
Now it is Brock Bowers' turn.
"Tight end is a prime position right now to be in," Bowers said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "I'm just glad it's now."
The first back-to-back winner of the John Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end, Bowers has already been a household name for years. He broke onto the scene as a true freshman in 2021, when he established a Georgia record with 13 touchdown catches. He helped the Bulldogs claim consecutive national championships, the first of which he won here at Lucas Oil Stadium. Bowers went on to become only the third player in program history to earn first-team All-America honors in three seasons, joining Herschel Walker and David Pollack.
He did so despite missing a month of his final season due to an ankle injury.
"It was an injury that happened this year, so [teams are] obviously asking about it," Bowers said. "It's 100 percent."
NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah released his updated ranking of the top 50 prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.
No. 47 Roman Wilson, WR, Michigan
No. 49 Marshawn Kneeland, Edge, Western Michigan
No. 40 Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida
No. 41 Payton Wilson, LB, N.C. State
No. 46 Ja'Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas
No. 38 Braden Fiske, DT, Florida State
No. 45 Malachi Corley, WR, Western Kentucky
No. 44 Junior Colson, LB, Michigan
No. 34 Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia
No. 35 Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas
No. 36 Kamari Lassiter, CB, Georgia
No. 49 Jordan Morgan, OT, Arizona
No. 33 Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
No. 42 Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon
No. 43 Keon Coleman, WR, Florida State
No. 36 Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama
No. 24 Graham Barton, IOL, Duke
No. 27 Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas
No. 37 Zach Frazier, IOL, West Virginia
No. 25 Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa
No. 38 Darius Robinson, Edge, Missouri
No. 30 Jackson Powers-Johnson, IOL, Oregon
No. 32 Jer'Zhan Newton, DT, Illinois
No. 20 J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan
No. 29 Bo Nix, QB, Oregon
No. 31 Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson
No. 21 Chop Robinson, Edge, Penn State
No. 28 Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB, Missouri
No. 19 Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas
No. 26 Edgerrin Cooper, LB, Texas A&M
No. 16 Laiatu Latu, Edge, UCLA
No. 22 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
No. 23 Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma
No. 11 Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington
No. 17 Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
No. 13 Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
No. 14 Jared Verse, Edge, Florida State
No. 18 JC Latham, OT, Alabama
No. 15 Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT, Penn State
No. 12 Dallas Turner, Edge, Alabama
No. 10 Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
No. 8 Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
No. 9 Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama
No. 7 Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
No. 6 Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
No. 5 Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
No. 4 Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
No. 3 Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
No. 2 Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
No. 1 Caleb Williams, QB, USC
Bowers entered the combine as the No. 7 overall prospect on Daniel Jeremiah's top 50 and the first non-quarterback, non-receiver to appear on the NFL Media analyst's list. The Giants currently hold the No. 6 pick in the draft.
"I feel like [I bring] yards after the catch and just being able to make people miss," said Bowers, a native of Napa in California wine country. "Just turn good plays into great plays."
The Giants could use an influx of those. They ranked 31st in yards after catch last season and tied for 30th in plays of at least 10 yards. It didn't help that Darren Waller, whom the Giants acquired via trade a year ago, missed five games due to injury.
Coach Brian Daboll knows what tight ends can do for an offense. He coached the position in New England, where Rob Gronkowski was selected first-team All-Pro in 2014 and 2015 under his watch.
"I grew up watching Gronk," Bowers said. "I loved watching Gronk. He's a huge role model for me looking at him growing up and watching [George] Kittle and [Travis] Kelce."
The latter two just helped their teams reach Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, where Bowers got to meet Gronkowski, now a TV personality, on Radio Row. That makes three future Hall of Famers, and Bowers is just beginning his journey to try to join the club – or at least get an invitation to Tight End University.
"I hope so," he said. "It's always good to talk to people with good football knowledge."
Bowers, meanwhile, doesn't have to look at only the seasoned veterans for a blueprint. Just last season, Detroit's Sam LaPorta set the NFL record for most receptions by a rookie tight end.
"It's exciting to see those young guys balling out," Bowers said. "My rookie year's coming up, and I'd like to do the same thing. It would be good to learn from those dudes and learn from what they did and what worked well."
View photos of NFL.com's list of the top 101 free agents of 2024.
No. 101 WR Michael Thomas
No. 100 S Micah Hyde
No. 99 QB Tyrod Taylor
No. 98 QB Gardner Minshew
No. 97 S Alohi Gilman
No. 96 OT Josh Jones
No. 95 QB Jameis Winston
No. 94 WR Tyler Boyd
No. 93 EDGE Brandon Graham
No. 92 RB J.K. Dobbins
No. 91 S Jordan Whitehead
No. 90 RB Austin Ekeler
No. 89 WR Odell Beckham Jr.
No. 88 CB Keisean Nixon
No. 87 LB Josey Jewell
No. 86 RB D'Andre Swift
No. 85 LB Willie Gay Jr.
No. 84 EDGE Leonard Floyd
No. 83 TE Noah Fant
No. 82 EDGE Shaquil Barrett
No. 81 S Geno Stone
No. 80 K Ka'imi Fairbairn (Update: The Texans and Fairbairn have agreed to a three-year contract)
No. 79 G Jon Runyan
No. 78 OT Yosh Nijman
No. 77 WR K.J. Osborn
No. 76 S Jeremy Chinn
No. 75 S Jordan Fuller
No. 74 LB Bobby Wagner
No. 73 EDGE Marcus Davenport
No. 72 QB Ryan Tannehill
No. 71 CB Adoree' Jackson
No. 70 LB Devin White
No. 69 LB Drue Tranquill
No. 68 CB Kristian Fulton
No. 67 CB Steven Nelson
No. 66 WR Darnell Mooney
No. 65 G Kevin Zeitler
No. 64 G Jonah Jackson
No. 63 OL Connor Williams
No. 62 DL Calais Campbell
No. 61 DT Denico Autry
No. 60 CB Chidobe Awuzie
No. 59 OT Jermaine Eluemunor
No. 58 OT Jonah Williams
No. 57 EDGE Dorance Armstrong
No. 56 DT D.J. Reader
No. 55 OT Trent Brown
No. 54 RB Tony Pollard
No. 53 G Kevin Dotson
No. 52 DT Grover Stewart
No. 51 WR Curtis Samuel
No. 50 CB Kenny Moore II
No. 49 LB Azeez Al-Shaair
No. 48 S Julian Blackmon
No. 47 EDGE Josh Uche
No. 46 DT Fletcher Cox
No. 45 C Andre James
No. 44 TE Hunter Henry (Update: The Patriots and Henry have agreed to a three-year contract)
No. 43 G John Simpson
No. 42 EDGE Jadeveon Clowney
No. 41 S Kamren Curl
No. 40 LB Lavonte David
No. 39 EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel
No. 38 LB Jordyn Brooks
No. 37 RB Josh Jacobs
No. 36 TE Dalton Schultz (Update: The Texans and Schultz have agreed on a three-year contract)
No. 35 EDGE Za'Darius Smith
No. 34 EDGE Chase Young
No. 33 WR Gabe Davis
No. 32 RB Derrick Henry
No. 31 QB Baker Mayfield
No. 30 QB Jacoby Brissett
No. 29 C Lloyd Cushenberry
No. 28 LB Patrick Queen
No. 27 G Robert Hunt
No. 26 LB Frankie Luvu
No. 25 CB Stephon Gilmore
No. 24 WR Marquise Brown
No. 23 S Kyle Dugger (Update: The Patriots have placed the transition tag on Dugger)
No. 22 S Xavier McKinney
No. 21 CB Kendall Fuller
No. 20 EDGE Bryce Huff
No. 19 S C.J. Gardner-Johnson
No. 18 DE Leonard Williams
No. 17 G Mike Onwenu
No. 16 WR Calvin Ridley
No. 15 EDGE Jonathan Greenard
No. 14 RB Saquon Barkley
No. 13 OT Tyron Smith
No. 12 WR Michael Pittman Jr. (Update: The Colts have placed the franchise tag on Pittman)
No. 11 CB Jaylon Johnson (Update: The Bears have placed the franchise tag on Johnson)
No. 10 WR Mike Evans (Update: The Buccaneers and Evans have agreed on a two-year contract)
No. 9 EDGE Danielle Hunter
No. 8 S Antoine Winfield Jr. (Update: The Buccaneers have placed the franchise tag on Winfield)
No. 7 DT Justin Madubuike (Update: The Ravens have placed the franchise tag on Madubuike)
No. 6 CB L'Jarius Sneed (Update: The Chiefs have placed the franchise tag on Sneed)
No. 5 EDGE Brian Burns (Update: The Panthers have placed the franchise tag on Burns)
No. 4 DT Christian Wilkins
No. 3 EDGE Josh Allen (Update: The Jaguars have placed the franchise tag on Allen)
No. 2 QB Kirk Cousins
No. 1 DT Chris Jones (Update: The Chiefs and Jones have agreed on a five-year contract)
