LV · TE
Brock Bowers Fantasy Outlook 2026: The Injury That Cost Him TE1
Bowers posted the second-best per-game scoring rate among tight ends in 2025 despite missing five games to a Week 1 injury, finishing TE11 overall when the preseason projection had him first.
What the injury actually took
Bowers entered 2025 as the TE1 on every major board. Our sportsbook-derived rankings had him 21st overall. ESPN had him 20th. The consensus was not subtle: he was the first tight end off the board, priced as a second-round pick, with posted props of 93.9 receptions and 1,000.5 receiving yards.
He sustained an injury late in Week 1 that kept him out through Week 6. He returned in Week 7 and played the rest of the season, finishing with 64 catches for 680 yards and seven touchdowns across 12 games. That translated to 176.2 PPR points, TE11 overall, and 75th among all players.
The per-game number is what matters here: 14.7 PPR points across those 12 games, which ranked second among all tight ends in scoring rate. The injury cost him five weeks. It did not cost him his skill set or his role when he came back.
He scored 14.7 PPR points per game in 2025, second among all tight ends. The injury cost him five weeks, not his role.
The efficiency that survived it
In his 12 games played, Bowers commanded 13 end zone targets and converted seven of them into touchdowns. That is a 54% red-zone touchdown conversion rate for a tight end, which is elite even in a small sample. He was not just accumulating volume — he was the primary scoring option when Las Vegas got inside the 20.
His rookie season in 2024 provides the baseline: 112 catches for 1,194 yards across 17 games. That was 6.6 receptions and 70.2 yards per game as a 21-year-old, which set the preseason projection for 2025. What he actually posted in the games he played last year was 5.3 receptions and 56.7 yards per game, with the touchdowns up from five as a rookie to seven in 12 games.