Raiders: Ranking all 8 undrafted free agent signings
By Nico Di Fede
7. Nick Bowers, TE, Penn State (Raiders)
While not having a very productive college career due to battling injuries, the Raiders decided to add tight end Nick Bowers to audition for a spot in the league.
Bowers redshirted his first season on campus (2015). He missed the entirety of the 2016 season due to injury, and about half of the 2017 season for the same reason. In 2018, he again battled the injury bug but did appear in nine games. 2019 was his best season.
He was finally able to stay healthy for a full season appearing in all 13 games, making two starts. His stats weren’t great, he only had 10 catches for 214 yards and a touchdown, but the 21.4 average yards per catch does stand out.
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Bowers is an athletic tight end, so don’t let the numbers fool you into thinking he is solely a blocker.
He will have an extremely tough time sticking with the Raiders, as the tight end group looks to be set. He has fought adversity his entire college career, however, so I wouldn’t completely count him out.
8. Liam McCullough, LS, Ohio State (Raiders)
A finalist for the Patrick Mannelly Award as a senior in 2019, an award that goes to the nation’s top long-snapper, Liam McCullough was one of the best long snappers in the NCAA from 2016-2019.
During that span, he had only one errant snap out of 577. There isn’t really much else to say as a long snapper’s sole job is to not commit any miscues.
The Raiders signed long-snapper Trent Sieg back in March of 2019, so it is a curious decision for the Raiders to have signed him, and for McCullough to choose them. Sieg is only 25-years-old, so this was not a decision made on the basis of getting younger.
Next. Raiders: Ranking the top 5 receivers in franchise history. dark
Because of this, I don’t see him making the roster and see it as the least impactful signing of the undrafted free agent crop.