ESPN analyst Matt Miller says Brock Bowers not a fit for New York Jets

ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper released his Mock Draft 3.0 recently and a panel of analysts joined him to discuss the picks. Kiper had Georgia tight end Brock Bowers going to the New York Jets at No. 10 overall and there was some dissent on that.

On a SportsCenter special, analyst Matt Miller disagreed with the pick and provided his reasoning why.

“I love Brock Bowers, so I hate that I have to do this, but I don’t like this pick,” Miller said. “I just feel like it’s a little bit of a reach for the tight end. Also Aaron Rodgers historically has not thrown to his tight ends. I mean you have to go back to Richard Rodgers, one of the few tight ends who had double-digit touchdown catches for Aaron Rodgers, so it’s a little bit of a reach to me on the fit.”

Kiper had previously explained why he liked Bowers at this spot.

Primarily, he feels like the Jets have done a nice job in free agency and the trade market of shoring up the team’s biggest need: the offensive line.

“Now you’ve got that line together and you can get a weapon, a pass-receiving weapon you can move all over the field with Garrett Wilson as the other option there, key option for Aaron Rodgers,” Kiper said. “So now because of what you did in free agency and the trade with the offensive line you can take a guy like Brock Bowers, the all-around weapon out of Georgia.”

That’s likely the crux of the disagreement between Miller and Kiper over the pick at No. 10 overall, though Miller did lean heavily on his assertion that Rodgers doesn’t typically use tight ends all that much.

Miller views the moves the Jets have made to shore up the offensive line as at least somewhat tenuous, thinking the organization might still use the draft to further improve its prospects up front.

“I also think we got Aaron Rodgers, we all know, 40 years old, coming off the Achilles, being protected by a left tackle in Tyron Smith who hasn’t started an entire season since 2015,” Miller said. “He’s played 30 games in the last four years. That would worry me. It is an all-in, win-now year, but we only have one tackle off the board right now.

“So I think you look at Olu Fashunu, you look at Tauliese Fuaga. Someone that can come in, maybe they start at guard for one year but they’re also insurance because you’ve got two 33-year-old tackles in Smith and Morgan Moses. We saw what happened last year when that offensive line was such a huge problem, so I think having some insurance would be smarter than a tight end here when that’s not a position that Rogers historically throws to a ton in the middle of the field.”

An interesting discussion, to say the least. And it’s more about position needs than what Bowers can bring to the table.

The talented Georgia tight end racked up 175 catches for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns over three seasons and few would argue he will be a weapon at the next level. Just maybe not with the Jets.