It was recently revealed that Georgia TE Brock Bowers would undergo surgery for an ankle injury suffered in Week 7 against the Vanderbilt Commodores. How long will Bowers be sidelined after the surgery, and will his injury affect his 2024 NFL Draft stock?
How Long Will Brock Bowers Be Out After Surgery?
Pro Football Network has been tracking updates on Bowers’ status since he first suffered the injury against Vanderbilt. Earlier today, it was revealed by The Athletic’s Seth Emerson that Bowers would undergo stabilizing surgery to repair the ankle.
The surgery in question is most often referred to as “tightrope surgery,” a common ankle surgery that involves stabilizing the tibia and fibula. It has a good track record for full recovery, and ESPN’s Pete Thamel added that Bowers should miss 4-7 weeks.
MORE: FREE Mock Draft Simulator With Trades
Taking the provided range into account, the best-case scenario is Bowers returning to action against the Tennessee Volunteers.
The worst-case scenario is that he sits out the rest of the season. But the odds are good that we’ll see Bowers back by Conference Championship Weekend at the latest, and he’ll assuredly be a factor in the playoffs.
Does Bowers’ Injury Affect His 2024 NFL Draft Stock?
There are two questions to ask about Bowers’ 2024 NFL Draft stock in light of his injury: Do we need to see any more of his tape, and does the injury affect his ability to test and his on-field viability long-term?
The answer to both questions, it seems, is emphatically “no.” Bowers has already proven himself as one of the best college football tight ends ever and one of the most dynamic and versatile offensive prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.
In 2021, Bowers caught 56 passes for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns as a true freshman. In 2022, he caught 63 passes for 942 yards and seven scores. And so far in 2023, through seven games, he had 41 catches for 567 yards and four touchdowns.
Bowers has the elite production and the elite tools. His blend of explosiveness and play strength at 6’4″, 240 pounds is extremely rare. He’s a hybrid who can dominate defensive backs in space and at the catch point, and his combined RAC and catch-point utility allows him to make plays at an unending clip.
MORE: 2024 NFL Draft Big Board
Bowers is a weapon, and as a bonus, he’s also a hyper-versatile blocker. He has nothing else to prove from a diagnostic standpoint and has essentially locked himself into the top-15 range in the 2024 NFL Draft — if healthy.
Luckily, health shouldn’t be an issue for Bowers with this injury, either. It’s up to him to decide whether he wants to play it safe toward the end of the season to avoid reinjury.
The entropy of college football ensures that there is always an injury risk, but the odds of reinjury are low after the surgery to stabilize.
To summarize, there are very few outcomes where an injury affects Bowers’ mobility long-term or precludes Bowers from going through the full pre-draft process.
Teams will get a chance to do their own individual medical research on Bowers at the NFL Combine. That will ultimately seal the deal — but in the meantime, there are very few concerns.
As long as things go according to plan, Bowers will remain an early first-round prospect, as he should. He’s a blue-chip, position-less weapon who can help offenses evolve in the modern age, making exhaustive use of both space and contested opportunities.
