Gil Pound: Pound for Bowers got the power
Aug. 1—If you're reading this in print, there's a slight chance you were alive the last time a tight end won the Heisman Trophy.
The year was 1949 when Notre Dame's Leon Hart, who converted to tight end from wide receiver, caught 19 balls for 257 yards and five touchdowns across 10 games to win the award.
Obviously the position has undergone some major changes since Hart's time in South Bend. Back then it was simply referred to as "end" and blocking was a much bigger part of the job than pass catching. Hart was great at both. He finished his college career as a three-time national champion before going on to become the first overall pick in the 1950 NFL Draft.
There's a young man in the college ranks right now who hopes to have a similar career path as Mr. Hart. Georgia's Brock Bowers already has two titles under his belt, is the unquestioned best tight end in the game, and is a likely first round pick in next year's draft should he decide to leave Athens early.
He deserves serious consideration for the 2023 Heisman if he puts together a season comparable to or better than his first two.
I define consideration as earning a trip to the Heisman ceremony in New York like Stetson Bennett did last year. Will Bowers get that same consideration? Probably not. History tells us why.
As mentioned previously, it's been nearly three-quarters of a century since a tight end won the award. Only two have ever done it. A few more have finished as finalists and others received votes.
There was a time in Heisman history where running backs reigned supreme. We're in a very different era now because the reality is you almost have to play quarterback. Only four non-QBs have hoisted the trophy (RB Reggie Bush, RB Mark Ingram, RB Derrick Henry, and WR DeVonta Smith) since the turn of the century.
Looking at the preseason Heisman odds, those aren't really in Bowers' favor, either. He sits around 25th depending on which sports book you view. His odds are in the +6000 range, meaning you could wager one theoretical dollar (online sports betting is illegal in Georgia, y'all) to win 60. For some perspective, the leader is Southern Cal QB and last year's Heisman winner Caleb Williams at around +500. A $1 bet on Williams to repeat would net you five theoretical dollars. The more likely a bet is to hit, the smaller the return.
Also included in the names above Bowers is his own presumptive quarterback, Carson Beck (+2000-ish), a guy looking to take the starting reins for the first time. Just a few slots down from the UGA tight end is another Brock — Brock Vandagriff (+10000) — who may or may not even see time this season. Vegas is covering its bases and is willing to take suckers' money to keep those hotel-casinos in a palatial state.
It's going to take an out-of-this-world season for Bowers to even earn a plane ticket to New York. Many hurdles lie in his way.
Georgia doesn't traditionally launch Heisman campaigns for its players like other universities do. The closest thing I've seen was when defensive lineman Jordan Davis conducted The Redcoat Band postgame a couple years ago. Also, Bowers' play is going to have to do the talking because he won't do that himself. He's notoriously a man of few words. All of that on top of the fact that opposing teams should be keying on him at all times.
But why should any of that stop him? Nobody's been able to yet.
