NFL Mock Draft Round-Up: Brock Bowers' stock fluctuating in mock drafts

Super Bowl Sunday was Feb. 11, which means that the NFL mock draft season started 12 days ago. Amateur and professional draft experts alike are churning them out often as the offseason and NFL Combine get well underway leading up to April's NFL Draft.

Full disclosure: None of us know who is going to be drafted, or where they will be drafted. There are NFL general managers who, on the day of the draft, will have no idea who they are picking. There is no possible way that we could know who each team is going to pick, especially before the start of free agency. That won't stop us from having our fun, though, and it certainly won't stop people from criticizing everybody else's mock draft.

NFL Mock Draft Round-Up: What is Brock Bowers' value?

A player who happens to be all over the draft board on even the most respected analyst's mock draft is Georgia tight end, Brock Bowers. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and I have him going to the Los Angeles Chargers with the No. 5 pick. Charles McDonald and Nate Tice of Yahoo! Sports have him going No. 9 to the Chicago Bears, Pro Football Focus has him going 12th to the Broncos, and The Athletic staff writer mock draft ($) has him going 15th to the Colts.

Even within news organizations, there is no consensus. CBS Sports' Josh Edwards has Bowers going No. 6 to the Giants, while his colleague Ryan Wilson has him going 14th to the Sain. Daniel Jeremiah from NFL.com has the Georgia tight end going 18th to the Bengals, while his colleague Dan Parr has him going 12th, also to the Bengals, after a trade with the Broncos.

Positional value

How could a group of expert draft analysts, who study each prospect and each team, have such diverse opinions about the same player? There are several reasons that Bowers is being picked all over the first round by the most brilliant draft minds on the planet. The number one reason is the positional value of the tight end in the NFL.

The tight end position is what is referred to as a luxury position. It's not a position that you go out and draft as soon as possible, but it's one that you address after you've already addressed your other needs going into the offseason.

Elite Skill Set

If a player exhibits an elite level of skill at their position, even if it's not a position of high value, they can force the hand of teams to take them sooner than they should. Last season, the Buffalo Bills took Dalton Kincaid with the 25th overall pick. Two seasons before that, the Atlanta Falcons took Kyle Pitts with the fourth overall pick. Brock Bowers has displayed skills that are on par or superior to both of those players.

He has great size at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds. He catches the ball like his hands are coated with glue, and unlike the two tight ends I just mentioned, he is an exceptional in-line blocker. He can line up anywhere and run just about any route. A team will buck conventional wisdom and take him in the first round of the 2024 draft.

Realistic Landing Spots

The term realistic doesn't apply to the NFL draft. Teams are emotional and irrational, and more often than not, do things that they shouldn't do (like drafting a running back or tight end in the first round). The Chargers make a lot of sense. They need a tight end, and they could potentially cut their top two wide receivers this off-season to get below the cap. Despite that, it only makes sense if they trade back. The fifth overall pick is way too high to take a position of such little value.

The Bengals may seem like a good fit, because they also need a tight end, and they also may be losing some receivers in free agency. The offensive line is their biggest need, though, and the one that they should address first. A perfect solution would be the Bengals trading up to No. 5 for Joe Alt or Olu Fashanu, and the Chargers taking Bowers at No. 18.

My prediction is that the Raiders, desperate for eight positions outside of tight end, do the Raiders thing and take Bowers with the 13th overall pick.