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Brock Bowers Offers Clear Bounce-Back Appeal for Dynasty Managers Entering 2026
After earning first-team All-Pro recognition as a rookie in 2024, Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (knee) put together an underwhelming sophomore campaign in 2025. Across 12 games (eight starts), the 23-year-old recorded 64 catches for 680 yards and seven touchdowns on 86 targets. However, injury was a major part of the story for Bowers. He attempted to play through a PCL injury that he suffered in Week 1 for most of the year before the Raiders finally shut him down and put him on Injured Reserve towards the end of the year. Entering 2026, Bowers is expected to be back to full health. He also remains the clear number one option in a Raiders passing game that should be improved following the offseason additions of rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza and new head coach/play-caller Klint Kubiak. Bowers profiles as an obvious bounce-back candidate in dynasty formats and should be prioritized as a buy-low target in any league where his value may have taken a hit.
Source: RotoBaller
Source: RotoBaller
Brock Bowers Taking Part in OTA Workouts
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (knee) is participating in OTA practice this week and was getting open with ease on Thursday, according to Ryan McFadden of ESPN. Bowers was the consensus top fantasy TE going into last season after he caught 112 passes on 153 targets for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns in 17 games in his rookie campaign. However, the 23-year-old former 13th overall pick out of the University of Georgia initially injured his knee in Week 1 and missed Weeks 5-7 as a result. He was never the same the rest of the way and finished with a disappointing 64-680-7 line in 12 contests (eight starts) in his sophomore campaign. Now apparently fully healthy and dominating in practices already, Bowers is a clear bounce-back candidate with league-winning upside at the position in a new offense led by head coach Klint Kubiak and new quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and rookie first overall pick Fernando Mendoza. Last year's down year due to injuries isn't really going to allow fantasy managers to purchase Bowers at a discount in 2026. He's currently ranked as the No. 2 overall TE, behind only Arizona's Trey McBride.
Source: ESPN.com - Ryan McFadden
Source: ESPN.com - Ryan McFadden
Brock Bowers One of the Most Valuable Assets in Dynasty
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers broke the single-season rookie reception record in 2024, and while injuries largely defined his second season, when healthy, he was still a force. Bowers missed five total games, was shut down twice, and was clearly affected throughout the year by a bone bruise and PCL sprain. However, in his two healthiest games of 2025 (Week 1 to begin the season and Week 9 when initially returning from injury), he caught 17 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns, finishing as the TE2 and TE1 while averaging 27.8 half-PPR points. At only 23 years old, Bowers is RotoBaller's TE1 and one of the most valuable players in all of dynasty. Klint Kubiak arrives in Vegas having deployed heavy personnel packages at one of the league's highest rates with Seattle, and with no Jaxon Smith-Njigba-type on the Raiders' roster, Bowers could see one of the highest first-read target shares in the league. Now tied to 2026 first overall pick Fernando Mendoza for the foreseeable future, Bowers has a chance to dominate for a long time at a position that can provide a league-winning advantage for fantasy.
Source: RotoBaller
Source: RotoBaller
Klint Kubiak Calls Brock Bowers a "Football Robot From Heaven"
Las Vegas Raiders new head coach Klint Kubiak is excited to get to work with tight end Brock Bowers, whom he called a "football robot from heaven," according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. Bowers, the 13th overall pick in 2024 out of Georgia, didn't disappoint in his first year in the NFL, catching 112 of his 153 targets for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns in 17 games to finish as the No. 1 TE in fantasy. The 23-year-old battled a knee injury in his sophomore season, though, which limited him to just 12 games, and he finished with a disappointing 64 catches for 680 yards and seven touchdowns on 86 targets, which put him at the TE10 mark when all was said and done. Now past his knee injury and set to work with quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza (the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft), Bowers is the top dynasty TE and should also be considered one of the top targets at the position in redraft fantasy leagues in 2026. Kubiak figures to make Bowers a huge part of the passing game in his first year in Vegas, especially since the Raiders' top receivers are Tre Tucker and Jalen Nailor.
Source: ESPN.com - Paul Gutierrez
Source: ESPN.com - Paul Gutierrez
More Opportunities Coming for Michael Mayer?
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer has been a solid backup to Brock Bowers, but The Athletic's Sam Warren writes that "there have been hints that more opportunities could be coming" for Mayer in 2026 under new head coach Klint Kubiak. The team's new head coach has an "affinity for bigger formations," which means the Raiders could feature more two-tight-end sets this year, and Mayer could be more of a pass-catching threat. The 24-year-old former second-rounder (35th overall) in 2023 out of Notre Dame was a TE1 streaming option when Bowers missed time with injury last year, and he finished with career highs in catches (35), targets (50), and receiving yards (328) in 13 games (12 starts) while scoring one time. Vegas added receiver Jalen Nailor in the offseason, but nobody in their WR room has a ton of experience, and veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins could lean on both Bowers and Mayer early on in 2026. In redraft leagues, Mayer will be a low-upside, low-end TE2, at best. And in dynasty formats, RotoBaller has him ranked as the No. 43 TE.
Source: The Athletic - Sam Warren
Source: The Athletic - Sam Warren
