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Las Vegas Raiders 2024 NFL draft picks: Brock Bowers pick raises eyebrows

Let's take a closer look at each of the Raiders' 2024 draft picks, starting with a surprising first-round pick.

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HENDERSON, Nev. -- The 2024 NFL draft began Thursday night in Detroit and will wrap up on Saturday. The Las Vegas Raiders are scheduled to make eight of the draft's 257 picks, which started with the No. 13 selection of the first round on Thursday night.

ESPN will provide pick-by-pick analysis of each of the Raiders' selections as they are made.

A look at each of Las Vegas' scheduled selections:

Analysis of every pick | Updated depth chart

Round 1, No. 13 overall: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia

My take: What a strange first-round selection, especially considering tight end was addressed last season with the second-round selection of Michael Mayer. Offensive tackle and cornerback were bigger needs. New general manager Tom Telesco must have simply relied on his draft board and gone best player available, especially with Oregon State RT Taliese Fuaga and every single CB still available. In fact, every defensive player was still on the board, and yet ... Bowers was considered a top-10 overall talent and should provide immediate production for an anemic offense.

Key stats: In three seasons at Georgia, Bowers caught a combined 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns. Those are receiver numbers. And at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, he's built more like a gliding wideout than a lumbering tight end. Oh yeah, Mayer goes 6-4, 265, so he is now the blocking TE after catching 27 passes for 304 yards and two TDs in 14 games (he missed the last three with an injured foot). Bowers is lauded as the preeminent pass-catching tight end of his class and, well, era, so there is value there. Expect a lot of double-TE sets in the Rob Gronkowski-Aaron Hernandez mold.

Will he start as a rookie? He better. Why else use a first-round pick on him, then? Even as he will have to battle a second-year, second-round draft pick in Mayer, and that's not a wise use of resources. Bowers is obviously more proficient as a pass-catcher and he had 56 receptions for 714 yards and six TDs last season, even as he had surgery on his left ankle in October and returned later in the season. Bowers' pass-catching ability should complement receiver Davante Adams. Receiver was actually a position of need in the Raiders' draft room -- between OT and CB -- so, this checks out, no?.

Round 2, No. 44 overall: Jackson Powers-Johnson, G/C, Oregon

My take: While Powers-Johnson played center at Oregon, the Raiders announced him as a guard, which makes sense since Las Vegas needs a right guard. Yes, even after the Raiders signed veteran Cody Whitehair in free agency. Powers-Johnson has started games at both guard spots and center in his college career. Last season, he started 13 games at center, was an All-America selection and won the Rimington Award as the nation's top center. He provides quality versatility, which is highly valued on the Raiders' offensive line.

Will he start as a rookie?: Only if the 6-foot-3, 328-pound Power-Johnson beats out Whitehair at right guard. Andre James is the Raiders center and was re-signed this offseason to a three-year, $24 million contract so he's not about to be unseated, right? There's a reason the Raiders announced Powers-Johnson as a guard upon his being drafted. With that opening on the right side, where he started one game in 2021 and another in 2022, that's where his future most likely resides.

Round 3, No. 77 overall: Delmar Glaze, OT, Maryland My take: After taking a versatile interior offensive lineman in the second round in Powers-Johnson, the Raiders used their third-round pick to grab a college tackle who could also transition inside to guard in Glaze. The selection shows how much the new regime of GM Tom Telesco and coach Antonio Pierce value versatility on the offensive line, which is all but set on the left side and at center. Glaze has a long wingspan at nearly seven feet but is not known for being overly physical. Will he start as a rookie? Projecting more as a swing tackle who might be set inside at guard, it's unlikely. He has paid his dues though, after playing in just one game as a freshman before starting four games at right tackle and two at left tackle as a sophomore, 12 games at right tackle and one at left tackle as a junior and all 13 games at left tackle last season for the Terrapins. He started 32 of 49 career college games. What's next: Having used the vaunted best-player-available philosophy for their first two picks and addressing the offensive line with their last two selections, the Raiders enter Day 3 of the draft with five more picks, starting with No. 112 in the fourth round. And having drafted three offensive players, they should look at the defensive side of the ball Saturday -- particularly cornerback and linebacker. And don't forget about a potential project quarterback ... unless Tom Brady is coming out of retirement, which would be an entirely new storyline, right? Round 4: No. 112 Round 5: No. 148 Round 6: No. 208 (from Kansas City) Round 7: No. 223 (from New England) Round 7: No. 229 (from Minnesota)