After Finishing 2023 With 8-9 Record, Raiders Seek Next Step With Pierce, Top Draft Pick Bowers In 2024; Raiders Pick Offensive Linemen Jackson Powers-Johnson With 44th Overall, DJ Glaze With 77th

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By Alan Snel, LVsportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer

The Raiders welcomed their number one draft pick to their headquarters in Henderson today.

Brock Bowers, who went to high school in Napa, California where the Raiders used to have training camp, has come full circle to the team now based in Las Vegas since 2020.

Bowers met Raiders coach Antonio Pierce and chatted with the media on a rainy Friday in metro Vegas.

In the second round, the Raiders picked interior lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson from Oregon.

Interesting to see Powers-Johnson’s entrepreneurial spirit:

With the 77th pick, the Raiders picked Maryland tackle Delmar Glaze.

Here’s Bowers’ chat with the media.

 

Q: What has been your overall impression so far of the facility, meeting Antonio Pierce, initial thoughts
of Las Vegas?
Bowers: “It’s been awesome. I mean, it still feels kind of surreal. It’s kind of crazy this is my new home and this where I’m going to spend the next couple years. So, I’m excited.”

Q: Have you been to Vegas? Were you excited to be picked to be in this city?
Bowers: “Yeah I’m super excited. I mean, it’s definitely closer than Georgia to home, so it makes flights a
little easier for my friends and family and stuff and going back home. So, I’m definitely excited to get to
know the area more.”

Q: What are your thoughts on sharing the tight end room with Michael Mayer?
Bowers: “I’m excited to get to work with him. And I mean, hopefully he can teach me a thing or two. I
remember watching him in college and at the next level, so I’m excited to see what happens and meet
with all the guys.”

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Raiders General Manager Tom Telesco also chatted with the media. Here’s Telesco when he was introduced to the media after he was hired by Raiders owner Mark Davis months ago.

Q: How hard did you try to move up to get a quarterback?
Telesco: “Not particularly hard, not particularly hard. We looked into it like I said in the pre-draft press
conference. We kind of had a plan to do maybe move up if the opportunity was there. It wasn’t there,
kept moving.”

Q: Brock Bowers said that he was shocked that the Raiders made him their pick, how much contact did
you guys have with him in the draft process?
Telesco: “The normal amount of contact. That’s kind of the way we – we don’t like to put up billboards on who we’re going to be possibly interested in. But yeah, we did a lot of work on Brock, our scouts had seen him for obviously not his freshmen year, you’re not eligible, but he obviously he jumped out as a freshman right away.

Q: Besides Brock Bowers you had your choice of any defensive player in the country. Were you surprised
about that? Did that give you any pause as far as going with Bowers?
Telesco: “I can’t really remember a draft that’s played out like that. Have they said that at all? I mean, I
can’t remember that many offensive players going at one time. No, I don’t know, just kind of zeroed in on Brock [Bowers] right there. But yeah, I would say that’s got to be an anomaly to have the first defensive player go 15. But when that many quarterbacks go early, which doesn’t happen that often, someone’s going to get pushed down.”

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First day Draft trends: A record 23 offensive players were drafted in the first 32 picks. First overall pick Caleb Williams got a $25.5 million signing bonus. There were no running backs drafted in the first round. Six of the first 12 picks were quarterbacks. Two of the first six picks were wide receivers. Seven of the 32 first rounders were wide receivers.

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PSA