Lynn Bowden, Kentucky football’s latest legend, drafted by Las Vegas Raiders
Lynn Bowden, one of the most dynamic athletes to ever don a University of Kentucky uniform, will look to be a spark plug in the NFL next season.
The Las Vegas Raiders selected Bowden with the 80th overall pick in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Bowden was the first UK player selected in this year’s draft, and the school’s first wide receiver picked in the draft since Randall Cobb. Bowden became the fourth-highest receiver taken in UK history behind Randy Burke (26th overall, 1977 first round), Rick Massie (46th, 1984 second round) and Cobb (64th, 2011 second round), and just the 10th Kentucky receiver selected in program history.
Bowden achieved those distinctions despite spending most of his final year with the Wildcats at quarterback. He was listed as a wide receiver on the official broadcasts but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Bowden as a running back selection for the Raiders.
Raiders GM Mike Mayock told the media Friday night that the plan is for Bowden to listed as a running back but will play multiple positions. He also mentioned Bowden as an option at punt returner.
“Whatever the Raiders need me to play,” Bowden told reporters Tuesday night. “I am not sold on any position, and Coach (Jon) Gruden said we are going to do a lot of things.”
Bowden was the third selection by the Raiders, who had two first-round picks but no picks in the second round. Bowden followed Alabama receiver Henry Ruggs and Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette as Las Vegas picks. The Raiders also had the 81st pick and selected another Southeastern Conference receiver in South Carolina’s Bryan Edwards.
“When Jon and I sat down in the offseason, it was about trying to get more dynamic. How do we get more dynamic?” Mayock said, according to a report by the Associated Press. “When you look at Ruggs, when you look at Bowden, when you look at Bryan Edwards, we’re more dynamic not only on offense but Henry Ruggs is a kick returner and Lynn Bowden is a punt returner. We’re really excited about that also.”
Injuries to two starters, Terry Wilson and Sawyer Smith, encouraged UK’s staff to insert Bowden — who’d been insisting he could do it — at quarterback in the waning minutes of a loss at South Carolina in week five. He led the Wildcats’ only scoring drive in that contest and started its next game against Arkansas, in which he rushed for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns, and threw for two more in a 24-20 win. Bowden from there started every game at quarterback and finished the year with a 6-2 record as UK’s signal-caller.
He also completed the 2019 season as the leading rusher in the Southeastern Conference, finishing with 1,468 yards on the ground, and was the recipient of the Paul Hornung Award, given annually to the most versatile player in college football. His turn at quarterback led Bowden to being named to the All-SEC First Team as an all-purpose player by media and the league’s coaches.
Bowden over the past few weeks has echoed a sentiment shared by some of UK’s coaches toward the end of last season: Had he started at quarterback for the entire season, he might have been a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. It’s just a hypothetical, but Bowden — who played quarterback in high school before converting to wide receiver in college — demonstrated a mastery of UK’s offense that gives some credence to the notion.
Many thought, entering last season, that Bowden needed to prove himself more capable as a route-runner in order to boost his draft stock. A position change that could have been framed as a negative was instead, by most, viewed as a high-character mark and his ability to adapt as needed to help a team win.
“Versatility,” Bowden told Bleacher Report’s Adam Kramer last week. “Nobody else in the draft has that. The stats don’t lie. You’re just going to have to turn back on the film to see what kind of ballplayer I am. That’s really the only hope.”
The Bleacher Report article was one of several produced by national outlets leading up to the draft that highlighted Bowden as one of the most intriguing players available in this year’s draft. In an article by ESPN’s Adam Scarborough, Bowden shared a story about an in-season text message from an undisclosed sender who suggested the move to quarterback was going to ruin his draft stock.
“It’s the best thing to ever happen to me,” Bowden told ESPN.
A story by NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread dove deep into Bowden’s upbringing in Youngstown, Ohio, the hometown shared by he and UK recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow, who led the recruitment of the four-star high school prospect and the highest-rated skill player to sign with Kentucky this century.
Marrow in a recent interview with the Herald-Leader said Bowden should be a first-round selection, but admitted to that likely not happening. He’s likened him to Deebo Samuel, a former South Carolina standout who was deployed in multiple roles by the San Francisco 49ers during his debut season last year.
“That kid’s gonna do very well,” Marrow said of Bowden.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 10:33 PM.
