Raiders Deep Dive: Lynn Bowden Is Jon Gruden’s New Favorite Weapon

Jeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel
5 Min Read
Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

After taking Henry Ruggs III in the first round, it was no surprise that the Las Vegas Raiders dipped back into the wide receiver well in the third round given the depth of receivers in this draft and the team’s desperate need for help. What was a surprise, however, was when they picked “wide receivers” at picks 80 and 81 — Kentucky’s Lynn Bowden and then South Carolina’s Bryan Edwards.

Three receivers in your first four picks? Huh?

Well, turns out they didn’t grab three receivers — they grabbed two and a running back, which brings us back to Bowden and the 2020 NFL Draft’s most interesting man.

For starters, there’s the backstory. This video from Kentucky does a great job of giving you context for Bowden and where he comes from:

And then there’s the tape. Oh yes, there’s tape.

In 2019, Bowden was awarded the Paul Hornung Award, which is granted to the nation’s most versatile player — which makes sense considering he finished the season as Kentucky’s leading rusher, receiver and their second-leading passer.

Yep, you read that right.

After injuries to Kentucky’s top two quarterbacks, Bowden asked to be given a chance to play quarterback — where he led his team to a 6-2 record in eight starts. What’s even more remarkable is that SEC defenses knew he was going to run the ball just about every time, and yet, he still ran for 1,369 yards in those eight games (171 yards per game).

By the end of the season, he led the SEC in rushing yards and rushing yards per attempt, despite gaining just 99 rushing yards in his first five games (you know, when he was playing receiver still).

“Bowden is just a guy you want to get the ball into his hands,” Thor Nystrom of Rotoworld said. “With his broken tackle rate, it’s hard not to think that (the transition to running back in the NFL) is going to work. What he did last year is unprecedented in modern, big boy football. He started out as an undersized slot receiver, then in the middle of the season they move him to quarterback and all these ridiculously talented defenses know you can’t throw and so they’re geared up to stop him and yet they couldn’t do anything.”

When I talked to Brett Kollman of “The Film Room” on YouTube, he made an interesting comp: Tarik Cohen.

“I expect him to get probably 7-9 touches a game, split between carries and catches, with most of his catches coming from the slot when matched up against linebackers,” he said.

Which brings us to Jon Gruden: the mad scientist who must have been losing his mind at the prospect of coaching Bowden.

“I have no doubt that you can be a great player,” Gruden told him when he called him to let him know they were drafting him. “I’m excited as hell. I’ve wanted to coach you since the moment I met you.”

Well, I actually wonder if it was the moment Gruden saw this:

Or if you prefer the college version…

From the person to the player, the more I dig into Bowden, the more I see how perfect of a fit he is within the Raider offense. He’s not a 20-carry-a-game back (he doesn’t need to be), but he’s a guy that is lethal with the ball in his hands and who can do just about everything. Once they establish him as a guy who can take a carry, then they can split him out wide to create mismatches (I mean, he did have 114 catches for over 1,300 yards as a receiver in the SEC) or even just line him up in the wildcat.

All in all, sign me up.

If you enjoyed this deep dive, feel free to take a look at our previous ones:

Henry Ruggs III
Damon Arnette

Information

Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a small newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Raiders and Dodgers since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNewswire.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Raider This one is an easy one for me: Charles Woodson. When the Raiders drafted him, there was nothing to dislike about the guy — he was exciting and he was freaking good. Unfortunately, of course, he left after eight seasons — but when he returned in 2013 it was one of the better Raider moments of my lifetime. At that point, I didn't care how washed he was (and he wasn't!) — I just liked having him back in the silver and black. Obviously Tim Brown is another guy that was easy to love, but Woodson is the all-timer for me. As far as current, I'm still a believer in Derek Carr and think he's going to figure this all out. Favorite Raider Moment I think I'll go with the two weeks leading up to the 2001 Super Bowl. As a kid, I remember getting the newspaper every morning to read what they were talking about, clipping out the articles to keep for later. It was obviously far more exciting than the Super Bowl itself, but I'll never forget those moments of hope leading up to the Super Bowl. I referenced it above, but second to that was probably the return of Charles Woodson in 2013 — I just loved the guy, and never dreamed he'd actually come back.