Tom Telesco had pretty uneventful one-year stint as the general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders before he was ousted in 2025.
But Telesco will always have a fingerprint on the franchise because he was the guy who brought Brock Bowers to Las Vegas. Bowers has a chance to go down as an all-time great Raiders and one of the best tight ends to ever play. Yes, I feel comfortable making those claims after just two seasons. Bowers is simply a brilliant player or as his new coach, Klint Kubiak says, he’s a football robot from heaven.
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So, Telesco deserves much credit for drafting Bowers. Not every general manager would have made that move for the Raiders and, remember, many fans were peeved by the decision on draft night.
Bowers was expected to be a top-10 pick, but the Georgia star fell because of a wild run on quarterbacks as six went in the first 12 picks before the Raiders picked at No. 13.
Had one of the quarterbacks fallen to No. 13, the Raiders very likely would have pounced. But with the quarterbacks scooped up, the Raiders were expected to take an offensive tackle or a cornerback in the first pick.
A tight end was considered a luxury pick for a bad team, especially one that traded up to take tight end Michael Mayer the year before in the second round.
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But Telesco plated best-available player card and it was absolutely the right call.
Remember, Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold said he was told by someone with the Raiders that it was a coin flip between hi and Arnold. The Raiders denied that claim, but they were closlly studying Arnold before the draft.
Arnold, who was the No. 24 pick in that draft, was recently released by the Detroit Lions because he is facing serious criminal charges in Florida.
So, this was a reminder of a bold move by Telesco that could have easily have become a major mistake even though many thought it would have been a better choice at the time.
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