NFL Draft Position Betting: Will Brock Bowers Be a Top-12 Pick?

The NFL Draft is only a week away -- with the first round kicking off next Thursday -- and there are several NFL Draft odds markets up at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Today, we'll look at the market for Brock Bowers' draft position. Bowers is a unique prospect, one who dominated his position in college. He twice won the Mackey Award for best tight end in college football.

Where might he be selected in the 2024 NFL Draft?

Currently, FanDuel Sportsbook has Bowers' draft position over/under at 12.5, with the under a -130 favorite. Let's dig into both sides -- the over and the under.

NFL Draft Odds

Brock Bowers Draft Position Over/Under

Why Brock Bowers Could Go Before Pick 12.5 (-130)

Bowers has been on the radar as a prospect for the NFL since he burst onto the scene at Georgia in his freshman season. He scored 13 touchdowns that campaign in helping lead the Bulldogs to a national championship. After that season, he was named SEC Freshman of the Year.

His sophomore season was his most productive in terms of yardage. His 942 yards led Georgia, and they won another national championship. This also resulted in the first of his two Mackey Awards.

His second Mackey came in just 10 games in 2023. He had his most yards per game with 71.4, and he still led Georgia in all receiving categories.

It's rare to see this kind of production from a tight end across all three seasons. Bowers had a breakout of age of 18.7, according to PlayerProfiler.com. This is extremely impressive in the SEC.

Some of the athletic testing we have from his high school days are elite for his position. He ran a 4.48 40-yard dash, which put him in the 98th percentile for TEs. For his size, his speed score was also in the 98th percentile. The profile comparison to Travis Kelce is surely one that could entice some teams to draft him.

In mock drafts, Bowers has been linked with the New York Jets at the 10th spot. He also visited the Jets recently, so that makes sense as a landing spot.

According to aggregated mock draft data from Grinding the Mocks , Bowers has an average draft position of 11.5. That points toward the under at this line of 12.5.

Why Brock Bowers Could Go After Pick 12.5 (-102)

We've known that Bowers has as impressive of a résumé as basically any tight end we've seen enter the draft. The last time we had an elite prospect like this, it was Kyle Pitts in 2021. I don't believe that Pitts' lack of NFL production should or will hold a team back from drafting Bowers, but it may scare off a team or two.

There are some real concerns that may cause some of the teams drafting early to slide him down their draft board a bit. I mentioned that his athletic testing was from his high school days -- that's because he didn't do any testing at the NFL combine or at Georgia's pro day.

Bowers is still recovering from the ankle injury that caused him to miss four games in 2023, which teams surely don't like to hear. He already had TightRope surgery on that ankle -- that's not ideal for him. It would have been nice to see how this affected his measurables at the combine. If this scares some teams away from Bowers in the early first, they may take another player at a position of need ahead of him.

His position is also something that could hold him back from being drafted this early. We're expecting a minimum of three quarterbacks to be selected in the top five and possibly up to five before the 13 mark. Then, we have the wide receivers -- three are expected to be top-10 picks.

The Jets are the team most often linked with Bowers, but they have other needs, as well. It would make a lot of sense for Gang Green to draft an offensive lineman to help protect their 40-year-old quarterback who is coming off a torn Achilles.

Given the more appealing -102 odds on the over, that's the side I ultimately land on.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.