Chipotle features the 'Brock Bowers Bowl' ahead of NFL draft
Brock Bowers reacts after a UGA touchdown during the second quarter against the UAB Blazers at Sanford Stadium on September 23, 2023 in Athens. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Chipotle is teaming up with former University of Georgia football star Brock Bowers ahead of this week's NFL draft.
The tight end joined the fast-food chain to talk football and burritos as part of Chipotle's "Unwrapped" series.
As part of the series, Bowers went behind the counter to make some burritos of his own.
Bowers told Ashley Brewer Kaminsky that he fell in love with football as a kid watching games while doing his homework on Monday night.
"Everyone dreams of it - playing at the highest level as a kid, watching it on TV and wanting to be like those guys. Being able to live out that dream is everything for me," Bowers said.
He said he was also inspired by Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce succeed at such a high level.
As part of the excitement leading up to the NFL Draft on Thursday, Bowers' go-to order will be featured as a digital menu item.
The "Brock Bowers Bowl" is a double steak, brown rice, tomato salsa, and lettuce burrito bowl.
Brock Bowers' prospects in the NFL Draft
In three seasons at Georgia, Bowers caught 175 passes for 2,538 yards in 40 games and scored 31 total touchdowns — five of them coming as a runner as the Bulldogs did whatever they could to get the ball in his hands.
Bowers is widely considered one of the top 10 players in the draft but because he plays the lower-premium position of tight end, there is much more uncertainty about how high he will get drafted.
While there could be teams in the top 10 willing to make the rare investment in a tight end, there is also the distinct possibility Bowers slips in the first round as teams prioritize high-value positions like quarterback, wide receiver, pass rusher, tackle or cornerback. Bowers is currently favored to be drafted outside the top 10, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
"He’s not a tight end. He’s a multiple option player," argued ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., who ranked Bowers as the seventh-best player in the draft. "You can put him in the backfield, slot, wing, outside, any which way, fullback, H-back. You can do anything you want with Brock Bowers. So he is not a tight end, he’s just an offensive weapon."
Of the top 15 tight ends in receptions last season, only four were first-round picks with only Buffalo rookie Dalton Kincaid and Cleveland’s David Njoku doing it for the team that drafted them. Five others were picked on the second day of the draft, with six more going the final day. In all, 12 tight ends have been taken in the first round of the past 15 drafts with only one of those players — Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts — generating even one 1,000-yard receiving season.
The question is can Bowers be the outlier in a class that has no other tight ends projected to go in the first round of the draft.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.