The Denver Broncos probably had a ton of interest in Brock Bowers during the 2024 NFL Draft cycle. Many Broncos fans also wanted the team to take Bowers. The tight end got taken by the Las Vegas Raiders with the 13th overall pick in round 1 - just one pick after Denver took Bo Nix.
Brock Bowers seemed to be a slam-dunk success for the NFL as a college prospect, and he may already be the best tight end in the NFL right now. On the Raiders in 2024, Bowers hauled in 112 receptions for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns.
He turns 23 years old near the end of the 2025 NFL Season. Well, had the Broncos taken Bowers over Bo Nix, how would things look now?
What if the Denver Broncos took Brock Bowers over Bo Nix?
The main issue here would have been figuring out who the team would have started at QB, as Denver seemed to be dead-set on grabbing a QB during the 2024 NFL Draft, so if the Broncos had taken Brock Bowers at pick 12, not only could Bo Nix had gone at pick 13, but we could have seen the Broncos look to someone like Spencer Rattler with their next pick.
The Broncos took Jonah Elliss at pick 76 - what if the Broncos took Brock Bowers at pick 12 and Spencer Rattler at pick 76? They would have gone into the 2024 NFL Season with two key rookies at hugely important positions.
This also would have likely meant Evan Engram would have never signed, so we could have been looking at a group of players on offense consisting of Spencer Rattler, the current RB room, Brock Bowers, Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr, and the elite offensive line already present.
The 'what if' exercise is fun, but it's only a what if...
All in all, the Broncos made the right move in taking a franchise QB prospect over a generational tight end - no matter how good Brock Bowers ends up being in the NFL, he'll never mean as much to an NFL roster as a franchise QB like Bo Nix would.