Brock Bowers has been having a dream rookie season with the Las Vegas Raiders. He came into the team off the back of a stellar college football record with the Georgia Bulldogs. Playing with them as a tight end, he twice won the John Mackey Award, in 2022 and 2023. He had a glorious college career there, with a whopping 175 receptions in 40 games, and a total of 31 touchdowns.

No wonder then, that he was a first-round pick, 13th overall in the draft this year. Just two games in with the Raiders and he’s already had a record 15 receptions. That’s actually an all-time record for any rookie in their first two games in the NFL. It’s no wonder words of praise have emerged from living legends.

Praise aplenty for the Raiders Rookie: How does he respond?

Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski, living legend and arguably one of the best tight ends of all-time, gushed over the rookie earlier this week on Kay Adams’ show, “Up & Adams.” Apparently he’s been following Brock Bowers’ career since his college career, calling himself a fan. He spoke about the youngster’s “explosive” playstyle post-catch and called him a winner through and through.

Then came the line that shocked Kay Adams. “I think he’s on track to be better than myself.” Of course, this little tidbit made its way to Bowers’ ears, and the young man was in awe. When asked how he felt about the praise, Bowers responded “You wanna be like him, so it’s pretty cool hearing that.” He further emphasized how much he looked up to Gronkowski growing up, and how much what he’d said meant to him.

Bowers’ teammate at the Las Vegas Raiders, Davante Adams, was the one who initiated the comparison in the first place. With his consistently impressive performances, Brock Bowers has earned the respect of both teammates and NFL legends. Will he live up to the hype?

What are the odds of Brock Bowers living up to Rob Gronkowski’s legacy?

Given Rob Gronkowski‘s legendary reputation as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, it’s all the more impressive he’d earned it by the time he retired at the age of 33. That seems pretty young, compared to a lot of his colleagues. Tom Brady‘s longevity was once-in-a-generation (He played till 45!), but it’s normal to play into your mid-30s, no? Well, he was famously injury-prone, and that’s what ended his career. Comparing Bowers and the Gronk at the college level, the first thing you’ll notice is Bowers played way more games. At least in part, that’s due to Gronkowski missing all of junior year due to needing back surgery. But otherwise, Gronkowski has a slightly higher average-yards-per-reception (16.0 compared to 14.5), and almost as many touchdowns-per-game (0.73 vs. 0.775).

But given his phenomenal rookie performance, Bowers might be the more naturally gifted athlete, even if he might not have the grit Gronkowski did. The real question is, will he remain injury free? Just last month he was out with a foot injury during practice, though he made it back in time for the season. It’s important that he keeps himself healthy and keeps improving his game at this point. With people like Gronkowski backing him, he’s sure to go far. Who knows what heights he may achieve?

If you’re interested in keeping an eye out for any other emerging talents in the NFL, be sure to check out our Think Tank Exclusive with Doug Sanders, where they go into everything that’s new this season in depth.