Is Brock Bowers going to the NFL Draft? Georgia football TE announces his decision
Georgia football junior tight end Brock Bowers, who looked like a next-level player early in his college career and became one of the nation's top playmakers, has declared for the NFL draft to the surprise of no one.
Bowers leaves as a three-time All-American, something only Herschel Walker and David Pollack have done in program history. He announced his decision on Instagram on Tuesday night. It was long expected considering he's a projected top 10 overall draft pick.
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The Napa, Calif. native ranks second all-time in program history in touchdown catches (26), third in catches (175) and fifth in receiving yards (2,538). He also had 5 rushing touchdowns and 193 rushing yards.
"To see him go out there and compete and work like he did for the three years he has been pretty remarkable," coach Kirby Smart said. "I mean, he is a machine when it comes to practice. Doesn't get tired, works his tail off, and he set a standard that will be there for a long time.”
The first two-time winner of the Mackey Award for nation’s top tight end is considered to be a top 10 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. His final season was disrupted by a high ankle sprain that required surgery but he missed only two games even if he wasn't quite at the top of his game when he returned.
“His legacy is he's a tremendous athlete, great toughness, never seen a kid come back from a significant injury like that that fast,” Smart said. “Pretty remarkable the numbers he hit and what he was able to do as he came back. He kind of changed the culture of the work ethic around especially on our offense."
Tight ends coach Todd Hartley called the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Bowers the “ultimate competitor.”
Smart said “he affected Oscar Delp, he affected Darnell (Washington), he's affected the young tight ends, he's affected everybody on the offense in terms of how he practices.
Bowers returned to play 26 days after TightRope surgery for the ankle injury sustained at Vanderbilt.
“After Vanderbilt, he could have went somewhere,” Hartley said. “He didn’t have to come back. People that are around him a lot know the type of person Brock is and what a competitor Brock is. It shows how much he loves his teammates, how much he loves his coaching staff and how much he loves Georgia.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Is Brock Bowers going to the NFL Draft? Georgia TE makes decision
