Could the Colts land the top tight end prospect in this year’s draft class, likening him to Dallas Clark?
According to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, the Indianapolis Colts may be interested in Georgia tight end Brock Bowers in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, comparing him to Horseshoe great Dallas Clark.
“There’s only one tight end that fits that bill, and that’s somehow if Brock Bowers gets there,” said Jeremiah in a recent conference call, previewing the upcoming NFL scouting combine regarding the Colts’ possibilities with the 15th overall pick.
“As we’ve gone over the positional stuff, the financial aspect of it, the history, the draft history, even though he’s a top ten player in this draft, I would not be — I would not rule it out that somehow Brock Bowers gets there, and that would be ironic because I compared him to Kittle, but he reminds me of Kittle like in a Dallas Clark body a little bit. Similar in terms of how you would use Dallas Clark and move him and do all those different things. Kind of like if Kittle and Dallas Clark had a baby, it would be Brock Bowers. It would be a fun there with the Colts.”
Jeremiah had projected Bowers to the Colts midway through the first round, but has subsequently adjusted that to Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins.
While the Colts have some adequate receiving options at tight end, including Jelani Woods (if he fully recovers from his hamstring injuries) and second-year pro Will Mallory, they could afford to add an elite playmaker at the position—and, really, on the offensive side of the football as a whole.
Jeremiah had projected Bowers to the Colts midway through the first round, but has subsequently adjusted that to Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins.
While the Colts have some adequate receiving options at tight end, including Jelani Woods (if he fully recovers from his hamstring injuries) and second-year pro Will Mallory, they could afford to add an elite playmaker at the position—and, really, on the offensive side of the football as a whole.
Not only would he provide another elite and explosive weapon for second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson, but it would also be interesting to see how Colts head coach Shane Steichen could use his dynamic receiving ability in his offense across the middle of the field and deep—perhaps even adding some interesting wrinkles here and there.
Furthermore, the comparison to former Pro Bowl tight end Dallas Clark, who ranks second only to John Mackey in Colts franchise history among tight ends in receiving yards and touchdown receptions, is high praise. Clark, a former first-round pick from Iowa and Colts iconic quarterback Peyton Manning’s sure-handed security blanket, is the best tight end in team history—and he did it gloveless.
Clark was one of the early modern-day prototypes of what the tight end position has evolved into as a big-bodied slot target who is much more receiver than blocker, and he was a great athlete and one of Manning’s top receiving targets in Indianapolis.
As for Bowers, if he is equivalent to Clark at the pro level and winds up in Indianapolis as a result of the middle first round, Chris Ballard’s Colts will have scored a home run.