INDIANAPOLIS -- Brock Bowers sees the tight ends making game-changing plays across the NFL, from Travis Kelce to George Kittle to Mark Andrews.

He sees the rookies who made an impact last season, such as Sam LaPorta.

He's ready to be one of those players.

The Georgia prospect is widely considered the top tight end in this year's draft. He has a stout resume that includes two national championships and three seasons leading the Bulldogs in receiving yards. He averaged 846 yards and nearly nine touchdowns a season in college.

Now, he has a chance to become one of those players who are making the biggest plays in the NFL. He said he models his game after Rob Gronkowski.

"I like catching the ball in the flat and making things happen," Bowers said. "That’s fun to me."

Bowers is at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he's testing his athletic skills, showing his measurements and meeting with teams interested in arguably the best yards-per-catch threat in the NFL. He met with the Colts, who brought more than a dozen staffers to check out the top tight end.

They hold the No. 15 pick in the draft, and it's currently debatable whether Bowers will last that long. Tight ends don't often go in the top 10, but Bowers could be an exception.

That doesn't mean he's a perfect prospect, though. After weighing in at 6-foot-3 and 243 pounds, he knows scouts have a certain question about his game.

"One of the things I need to improve upon is the secondary action where I’m blocking," Bowers said. "Getting engaged with somebody and just being able to release that and re-engage."

If Bowers is available when the Colts pick, he could be the type of explosive addition the Colts are looking for, a chess piece for coach Shane Steichen to deploy in his run-pass-option-based offense.

They have tight ends on the roster who have shown flashes, from Jelani Woods as an explosive rookie in 2022 to Will Mallory's late-season surge as a rookie this season to Kylen Granson, who enters a contract year. But none of them surpassed 400 yards last season, leaving the door open for a game changer to join the crew to help elevate Anthony Richardson.

"Do we have an elite tight end like a Kelce? No," Ballard said. "But what we have is a good room with some pretty good players that all have a different skill set."

INSIDER: Do Colts need man-to-man skills, physicality or the grandson of a roofer at CB?

Ballard said he has a position in mind he'd like to draft in the first round already. That comes before free agency, when the Colts will have more than $70 million to spend, including on a long-term deal or franchise tag to keep Michael Pittman Jr. on the roster.

Ballard could look to take that swing at tight end, wide receiver, cornerback or edge rusher. He's stressed the need to get more explosive on both sides of the ball after last year's 9-8 campaign.

Bowers will be that kind of swing for some team, and he's determined to deliver on the hype that has him as one of the highlights of this year's combine.

"You have to have a good relationship with the quarterback to build trust. That kind of comes through reps at practice," Bowers said. "I’ll try to work on that the first place I go."

Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: Brock Bowers could be the explosive addition Indianapolis wants