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Brock Bowers: 'Awesome to watch' Detroit Lions TE Sam LaPorta 'ball out' as a rookie
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- Brock Bowers: 'Awesome to watch' Detroit Lions TE Sam LaPorta 'ball out' as a rookie
INDIANAPOLIS — Brock Bowers , the No. 1 tight end prospect in this year's NFL draft and a potential top-10 pick, said his coaches at Georgia held a film study last year where the focus was Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta .
"We watched a bunch of film on him at Georgia, kind of film studied, see what he does good," Bowers said Thursday at the NFL combine. "It was awesome to watch a rookie tight end come in there and ball out."
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LaPorta, the No. 34 pick of last year's draft, had a record-setting rookie season for the Lions, catching 86 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns. He broke Keith Jackson's 35-year-old record for receptions by a rookie tight end (81) and tied for team lead in touchdown catches.
Tight end has historically been one of the toughest positions for rookies to make an impact in the NFL, but LaPorta showed an advanced feel for running routes and separating from defenders and was a better blocker than advertised.
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Georgia tight end Brock Bowers speaks during a news conference at the NFL football scouting combine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Bowers is considered one of the most complete tight end prospects in recent decades and could join Kyle Pitts , T.J. Hockenson, Eric Ebron , Vernon Davis and Kellen Winslow as the only tight ends to go in the top 10 since 2000.
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The Lions took Hockenson with the eighth pick of the 2019 draft, and selected Ebron 10th overall in 2014.
Asked if it was important for him to be a top-10 pick, Bowers said "not really."
"Just a pick," he said. "I mean, I obviously want to go to a place I'm wanted and will be able to be used and yeah, just hopefully have a good rookie season."
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NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah called Bowers an easy prospect to grade, but a hard one to find a spot for in mock drafts.
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"He's one of the best 10 players in the draft," Jeremiah said last week. "Similar size, similar speed (to All-Pro tight end George Kittle ), plays with just tenacity, especially with the ball in his hands. That's where he is at his best. In the run game, when he can get into guys, he can finish them. He's not the tallest, not the longest guy so there's times he's not able to quite do that. But everything he does, separate easy. He can go get it. He can climb the ladder, go and get the ball, and really the run after catch stuff is what makes him special."
Bowers said he still needs to improve his secondary reactions as a blocker and be better about re-engaging defenders after their first pass rush move. But he said he'll bring a make-you-miss ability to whatever team he plays for and he said he tried this fall to add some LaPorta to his game.
Georgia tight end Brock Bowers (19) scores a touchdown against Michigan during the first half of the Orange Bowl at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla., on Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.
"He does a lot of little things well," Bowers said. "Route running wise, he just gets open. That's what you've got to do."
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Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Brock Bowers: 'Awesome to watch' Detroit Lions' Sam LaPorta as rookie
