Why Brock Bowers is the greatest tight end in college football history

• First tight end to win the John Mackey Award twice: Brock Bowers won the John Mackey Award twice, the first player to accomplish that feat.

• Three-time All-American: Bowers was an All-American in all three of his seasons, becoming the second tight end ever to be named an All-American three times.

• Dominant in advanced stats: Bowers leads all Power Five tight ends since 2014 in PFF receiving grade, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, receiving yards after contact and missed tackles forced on receptions.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

There can only be one “greatest of all time” in any given field. Tom Brady is the GOAT quarterback, Wayne Gretzky is the GOAT hockey player, Joël Robuchon is the GOAT chef. 

Now that his collegiate career is over, Georgia’s Brock Bowers has also joined that exclusive club as the greatest tight end college football has ever seen. 

He accomplished GOAT status by being the best tight end in college football right when he graduated high school. As a true freshman in 2021, Bowers was the most valuable tight end in the nation according to PFF’s wins above-average metric. He led all FBS tight ends that year with 522 yards after the catch and 13 receiving touchdowns.

Bowers was once again the most valuable tight end in the country as a sophomore and won his first John Mackey Award, given to the best tight end in college football. That year, he led all FBS tight ends in receiving yards (942), yards after the catch (479) and receiving yards after contact (274). 

As a junior, Bowers became the first two-time winner of the Mackey Award in its 24-year history. Despite missing four games due to injury/opt out, he still led all FBS tight ends with 486 yards after the catch and 249 receiving yards after contact while his 717 receiving yards led all Power Five ones. 

When looking at Bowers’ advanced receiving numbers since PFF began charting college football in 2014, he laps the field. 

Brock Bowers among Power Five tight ends since 2014 (PFF College’s inception)

Bowers is more than just a receiving tight end too. He’s capable of taking jet sweeps 75 yards to the house, an unheard-of feat for a tight end. 

BROCK BOWERS IS NOT HUMAN pic.twitter.com/g2juVJ3RvS

— The Field of 12 (@TheFieldOf76) September 24, 2022

In fact, his 89.4 PFF rushing grade over the last three years lead all FBS tight ends while his five rushing touchdowns are tied for the most. He’s not only dominant when he has the ball either. Bowers is one of 14 FBS tight ends since 2014 with 75-plus career pass-blocking and run-blocking grades.

Bowers was named to PFF’s All-American team in all three of his seasons. He was also a three-time AP All-American, becoming only the second tight end in history to accomplish that feat. The other, Notre Dame’s Ken MacAfee, did so while playing four years of college football. 

Now that he’s moving on to the NFL, the debate becomes whether or not he’s the greatest tight end prospect of all time. It’s also now time to recognize Bowers as not only an all-time great collegiate tight end, but the greatest collegiate tight end of all time.