ATHENS — It’s a given that Brock Bowers — or any other non-quarterback — will need help from the college football hype machine to have any shot at winning the Heisman Trophy.
That’s why Tim Tebow — the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner — has a message for fellow voters when it comes to Bowers: “Please watch.”
Tebow, appearing on SEC Nation weekly, is a fan of Bowers’ impact on the game and Heisman Trophy legitimacy.
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“He’s in the conversion of you look at everything he does and you really don’t just look at stats,” Tebow told DawgNation, “and I encourage all the voters please look at all the plays.”
They’ll need to if Bowers — who ranks 19th in receiving yards per game — is to have any sort of chance.
Being part of an undefeated team bodes well, as evidenced by Stetson Bennett’s fourth-place finish in the Heisman race last season.
But only two tight ends have ever won the award — Notre Dame’s Leon Hart the most recent in 1949 — and QBs currently rank as the top seven favorites with 11 of the past 13 winners have lining up under center.
Hence, Tebow’s pleas for his fellow voters to do a thorough job evaluating Bowers.
“Please look at the jet sweeps, please look at motions, please look at the way he draws defenders, please look at the way that he’s on slip screens and their eyes are on him and other players get open,” Tebow said, sharing the powers of Bowers that go beyond catch passes.
“Please look at on third down, and how he drew a couple of guys and now Ladd (McConkey) is one on one,” Tebow said. “Look at When they run a toss sweep and he’s blocking down on the edge defensive end that probably outweighs him by 35 pounds, and he locks his outside edge and runs the number with him and he gives Georgia a 6-yard gain.
“They need to look at all of those plays.”
Coach Kirby Smart and his staff certainly do, and that’s why the Georgia head coach has endorsed his tight end for the award.
“Who could argue there’s a better football player anywhere in the country,” Smart said.
“The guy has the greatest toughness and grit that I’ve been around, and he’ll do whatever you ask him to do for this team.”
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze indicated Bowers was the difference in Georgia’s win over the Tigers, and Kentucky’s Mark Stoops compared the UGA tight end to Michael Jordan with his ability to produce even with extra attention.
Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea is the next head coach to confront Bowers with Georgia traveling to play the Commodores at noon on Saturday.
“He’s a strong catcher, and a big strong, physical player who can run and is tough in space,” Lea said.
“That position, when you have a guy like that, it’s such a challenge to defend because the matchup requires size, it requires a physical element, but theres also got to be athleticism and skill, too.”
No doubt, Bowers will be a handful once again as a blocker, runner and catcher.
The question is, will Heisman voters be paying close attention?
