Raiders won't be wasting Georgia product Brock Bowers' elite talent in Year 1
Nobody could have guessed Brock Bowers would end up with the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 13 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. Even Bowers was shocked. That's because they didn't talk much during the pre-draft process. But also because they already had their star tight end in 2023 Notre Dame product Michael Mayer. Now, they […]
Nobody could have guessed Brock Bowers would end up with the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 13 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Even Bowers was shocked.
That's because they didn't talk much during the pre-draft process.
But also because they already had their star tight end in 2023 Notre Dame product Michael Mayer.
Now, they have two elite tight ends and they're not going to let either of them go to waste.
According to Sports Illustrated's Hondo S. Carpenter Sr., the Raiders plan to run run a lot of 12 personnel on offense.
"The 12 personnel is one running back and two tight ends. It is one of the most difficult offensive alignments to guard against," Carpenter Sr. explained in a recent episode of the Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast. "Especially, if you have versatile tight ends that can block and go out on pass routes and catch equally well."
This sort of offensive scheme is not as common compared to the typical 11 personnel where there is one running back and one tight end on the field.
And there's a reason for that.
"The reason you do not see more teams do it because it is very hard to get two elite tight ends," Carpenter Sr. said. "One is a great blocker, and one is a great pass runner, but it is rare to find them. The 12 personnel for the Raiders open up doors I mean literally running back, two tight ends, two wide receivers, you could spit both tight ends out. You could spill both tight ends out, now you are in a four-receiver empty package, if you move the running back up on the line. You could bring a guy over, now you could go three in one. There are so many things in the 12 personnel that make it the most difficult to defend."
This is going to be a new-look offense for the Raiders and a very dangerous one.
