Brock Bowers

There are great expectations for Brock Bowers in his third NFL season following an injury-plagued Year 2. Bowers had five catches for 103 yards in the Raiders' 2025 season opener against the Patriots, but he sustained a PCL injury and bone bruise to his left knee in that game, was clearly hampered over his next three games (with under 50 receiving yards in each) and was shut down for three games. Upon his return, Bowers scored seven touchdowns in eight games before the Raiders, looking to protect their star TE and also secure the No. 1 pick in the draft, placed Bowers on injured reserve, keeping him out of their last two contests. Widely considered one of the best TE prospects to ever enter the league, Bowers had 112 catches for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns on 153 targets as a rookie. With better health in 2026, he has a chance to match or exceed his rookie numbers. The Raiders are talent-starved at wide receiver, so Bowers is poised to be their alpha pass catcher. New head coach Klint Kubiak has been entrusted to repair the Las Vegas offense. No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza offers hope at the QB position, and the Raiders also have TE-friendly QB Kirk Cousins, who was quarterbacking the Falcons last year in Week 15, when TE Kyle Pitts had 11 catches for 166 yards and three TDs. Bowers is worth a look in the back half of the second round or early in the third round of 12-team fantasy drafts.

Toss Brock Bowers' 2025 season in the trash. All of it. In the trash. He sustained a PCL injury in Week 1 that he attempted to play through all year. He eventually landed on season-ending IR before Week 17 after gutting through 12 games last season. Despite playing on one leg for the entire season, Bowers still ranked 13th in yards per route run and first downs per route run last season (per Fantasy Points Data). To understand Bowers' 2026 upside and talent, we need to rewind to 2024 when he was the TE3 in fantasy points per game. During that season, he was seventh in target per route run rate, sixth in yards per route run, third in receiving yards per game, second in first read share, and seventh in first downs per route run (per Fantasy Points Data). 2026 Brock Bowers could be 2025 Trey McBride and be the runaway TE1 for fantasy, with little target competition existing on the Raiders' depth chart to challenge him.