Las Vegas Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers is teaming back up with his former Georgia teammates Zamir White and Christopher Smith II.
Las Vegas Raiders first-round pick Brock Bowers will already be seeing some familiar faces as a new member of the Silver and Black.
Having played the last three seasons at Georgia, Bowers was teammates with Raiders running back Zamir White and cornerback Christopher Smith II. White, who was drafted by Las Vegas in 2022, played with Bowers in Georgia’s 2021-22 season. Smith, whom the Raiders selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, was a Bulldog with Bowers for two seasons.
Bowers won one national title with White and two with Smith.
“Yeah, Zamir [White] and Chris Smith, played with both of them,” Bowers said after he was drafted. “So, I’m excited to reconnect with them and hopefully learn some things about the area and around the building. I’m excited.”
The three Raiders were all part of a historic college football program, one that won back-to-back national championships. With Bowers, White and Smith on the roster, each one of them brings a bit of that winning standard with them to a team that’s looking to find that same formula.
“I think the culture at Georgia was really good,” Bowers said. “I mean, we had a winning standard, and the standard was everything there, so I mean I’m excited to see what we’ve got going on here and just get after it.”
White had a breakout campaign for the Silver and Black last season when he stepped in for an injured Josh Jacobs in the last stretch of the year.
With his 397 rushing yards in the last four games of the season, including a 145-rushing-yard outing against the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day, White proved he is more than capable of being the Raiders’ top running back in the future.
Smith, meanwhile, is still finding his footing in the NFL, but that’s to be expected of a fifth-round pick. He played just 22 defensive snaps last season, primarily contributing on special teams in the 12 contests he appeared in.
As Bowers transitions to the NFL, which shouldn’t take him long at all, he will be fortunate to share the field with his former fellow Bulldogs.