After no senior high school season, freshman standout Brock Bowers is making an early impact at Georgia

Brock Bowers‘ parents were skeptical at first. They knew their son was good at football thanks to his obvious size and speed. But good enough to be one of the top tight end prospects in the country? Good enough to earn eventual offers from the likes of USC, LSU and Notre Dame before ultimately signing with Georgia?

Bowers’ trainer Nathan Kenion though had a pretty good idea of how capable the Napa, Calif., tight end was. Kenion began working with Bowers when he was an eighth-grader and had previously worked with the likes of former Atlanta Falcons tight end Austin Hooper.

“I assured them he was that good,” Kenion said.

That situation is not too dissimilar from what Bowers is once again experiencing. He arrived at Georgia as the No. 3 ranked tight end prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings and as one of 16 early enrollees at Georgia. Like any top prospect, Bowers arrives at Georgia with expectations. True freshmen though do not always meet those as it takes some time to become acclimated to the physical and mental rigors of college football.

So far though, Bowers might actually be that good. And it’s made all the more impressive by the fact that he didn’t get a chance to play a single down of high school football as a senior.

“He’s an excellent player,” safety Chris Smith said. “Smart route runner, a good amount of speed. He done broke a little ankles on me, I had to speed it up to catch him and bring him down. I didn’t know he was that fast. Brock is a great player and real level-headed.”

Related: Brock Bowers: Breaking down the ‘Unicorn’ Georgia’s offense added in its 2021 class

California was one of 13 states that elected to not play high school football this past fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While he wasn’t the only Georgia 2021 signee to have his season delayed — Jared Wilson in North Carolina and Jamon Dumas-Johnson of Maryland also had to wait until the spring to strap on the pads — Bowers was the only one who was an early enrollee, and thus wouldn’t get a season at all.

While Brock Vandagriff was winning a state championship this past fall in Georgia, Bowers was having to train at a local outdoor gym and work with local prospects to stay in football shape.