The Las Vegas Raiders wanted (and needed) a quarterback at pick 13 in the 2024 NFL Draft but as the historic first round played out, the team missed out on the top six prospects who all went in the top 12. Instead, the team “settled” for Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, and the Raiders seem pretty happy with that outcome.

“We ended up with one of the best weapons in the draft,” an anonymous Raiders team source told ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler about drafting Bowers. “Extremely versatile player graded high by everyone.”

“In fact, multiple NFL scouts told me that Bowers might have been the best overall player in the entire field, but positional needs pushed him out of the top 10,” Fowler writes in his 2024 NFL Draft intel piece.

This isn’t to say that the Raiders weren’t interested in a QB. Fowler also reports that the Raiders “explored trading for Jayden Daniels, but any attempts were futile due to Washington's stance that it wasn't dealing the No. 2 pick. Las Vegas also had interest in Michael Penix Jr., but most likely not in a trade up. He would have been considered at No. 13 or in a trade back. I heard from multiple people in Vegas that the team did not want to reach.”

New head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco stuck to their guns, though, and took the best player available when their initial plans fell through, and they should be commended for that.

That said, taking a tight end high in the first round is a risky proposition, and the Raiders now have to hope that Bowers proves to be an exception to this rule.

Brock Bowers must buck the TEs in the NFL draft trend

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers speaks to the media at Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, NV.
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Over the last 30 years, NFL teams that have drafted a tight end at the top of the first round have fared much worse than teams that pick one up at the end of the first round or later.

Kyle Pitts (Atlanta Falcons), TJ Hockenson (Detroit Lions), Eric Ebron (Lions), Vernon Davis (San Francisco 49ers), Kellen Winslow (Cleveland Browns), Rickey Dudley (Oakland Raiders), and Kyle Brady (New York Jets) are the TEs drafted in the top 10 over the last three decades. While there are some decent players in there, none became superstars.

On the other hand, when you look at the Hall of Fame (in or soon to be) tight ends from this time frame you have Antonio Gates (undrafted), Rob Gronkowski (second round), Travis Kelce (third round), and Shannon Sharpe (seventh round). Last season’s breakout tight end, Sam LaPorta, was also a second-round selection.

These historical comps don’t doom Bowers. He wasn’t a top-10 tight end, so he doesn’t truly fall into that first group, and tight ends with the former Bulldogs’ skillset and abilities are more valuable in the NFL than they have ever been in the past.

Also, if you want to take a more esoteric approach to believing that the 2024 No. 13 overall pick will be a successful selection for the Raiders, you can look at the one name left off of that Hall of Fame list above.

Tony Gonzalez is arguably the best tight end in NFL history. The former Cal football and basketball standout revolutionized the position and finished his career with the most receptions and receiving yards by a tight end. He is third and sixth in those categories, respectively, in NFL history.

And where did the Falcons take Gonzalez in the 1997 NFL Draft? They grabbed him at 13.