Week 1 is nearing for the Las Vegas Raiders, and the team is starting to prepare for that Sept. 13 game against the Miami Dolphins. The Silver and Black have their starting QB in Kirk Cousins, and in this game against Miami, head coach Klint Kubiak might unleash Brock Bowers.
Las Vegas doesn’t have a true No. 1 wideout, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a pass catcher who worries defenses. Brock Bowers will be the go-to guy for Cousins in the middle of the field this season.
Moreover, former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and his brother, David Carr, believe Kubiak will use Bowers the same way he used Jaxon Smith-Njigba last season, when Kubiak was the Seattle Seahawks‘ offensive coordinator.
“I’ve talked a lot about Bowers being used like JSN,” Derek said on the Sept. 3 edition of “Home Grown.” “… Schematically, [offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko] and Klint are trying to figure out the best way for one, two, and three [options] to be open and how we do that, and who we run off, and who we do this with, and to get this, whatever.
“What does that look like? Bowers, I would assume in 90 percent of these plays is one. If he’s not one and he’s two or three, that’s just trying to save the system or the scheme of the quarterback.
“Now, with this system and the runs and the play actions and the boots and the screens and all that, you don’t even have time to think, ‘Oh, it’s a drawback. Where’s Bowers?’ They do a good job of mixing it up, but he’s not going to be just an alert on a play.”
David Carr Sees Raiders’ Brock Bowers Getting High Volume Targets
Moreover, David is buying into Bowers’s fit into that Smith-Njigba role and expects double-digit targets per game. While teams know that the Raiders are trying to get Bowers the football, the former QB adds that he expects Kubiak to be as successful at getting the ball to his tight end as he was at getting the ball to Smith-Njigba.
“They’re looking [Bowers’] direction a lot,” David added. “They do such a good job because people are like, ‘Oh, well, they’re going to know.’ They knew where JSN was. In Seattle, every snap, and he still had 15 targets a game. That’s exactly how I see Bowers being used.”
Can Brock Bowers Replicate JSN’s Production With Klint Kubiak?
Last season, as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator, Kubiak targeted Smith-Njigba 157 times (fourth most), leading to 119 receptions, 1,793 receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns, per PFF.
Moreover, Sam Darnold’s QB rating when targeting the wideout was 120.8, so as David mentioned, teams knew that Seattle was trying to get Smith-Njigba the ball and were still successful.
Meanwhile, last season under former head coach Pete Carroll, Bowers saw only 83 targets, the ninth-most in the league, per PFF. Furthermore, it led to Bowers producing 64 receptions, 680 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns.
As a result, if the Carr brothers’ projection that Bowers will fill that Smith-Njigba role for Kubiak is correct, expect those target numbers to skyrocket for the tight end this season.
Raiders’ Brock Bowers Gets Intriguing Outlook Ahead of Week 1