Da'Quan Bowers

Da'Quan Bowers

No. 91     Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Defensive end
Personal information
Date of birth: February 23, 1990 (1990-02-23) (age 21)
Place of birth: Bamberg, South Carolina
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Weight: 280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
College: Clemson
NFL Draft: 2011 / Round: 2 / Pick: 51
Debuted in 2011 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Career history
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2011–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
2010 Bronko Nagurski Trophy [1] 2010 ACC Defensive Player of the Year [2] 2010 Unanimous First-team All-America 2010 First-team All-ACC 2008 All-Freshman honorable mention (CFN) #1 overall prospect by ESPN.com (2007)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 11, 2011
Tackles	10
Sacks	0.0
INTs	0
Stats at NFL.com

Da'Quan Bowers (born February 23, 1990) is an American football defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He decided to enter the 2011 NFL Draft after finishing his junior year at Clemson University.

High school career

Bowers led Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School to an 11–2 record in 2007 by recording 97 tackles on defense, including 33 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. On offense, the 6–3, 265-pounder rushed for 1219 yards and 19 touchdowns and also caught two touchdown passes. He also averaged 40 yards per kickoff return and blocked seven kicks.

Bowers was ranked the #1 overall high school football prospect by ESPN.com in 2008,^[3] the first Clemson recruit in history to be ranked as the number-one player in the nation by any recruiting service. Rivals.com dubbed Bowers the top defensive end prospect of the high school classes 2005–2009, describing him as "the closest thing to Reggie White and Bruce Smith".^[4]

College career

Bowers graduated early from high school and enrolled at Clemson in January 2008.^[5] He went through 2008 spring drills and had a game-high seven tackles in the 2008 Spring Game. In 2008 Bowers had 47 tackles, most among Tiger defensive linemen and eighth-most on the team while starting six games. In 2009, he finished with 58 tackles in spite of an injury that forced him to miss several games. He had 11 tackles in the ACC Championship game against Georgia Tech.

In 2010 Bowers was second on the team in tackles (74), and led the team in tackles for loss (26), sacks (15.5) and quarterback pressures (20). His 15.5 sacks led the nation and his 26 tackles for loss were tied for most in the nation and were fifth-most in school history. He was a Unanimous First-team All-American and on December 1, 2010, he won the honor of ACC Defensive Player of the year for the 2010 season. A week later, he was named the recipient of the 2010 Bronko Nagurski Trophy.^[6]

College awards and highlights

• 2010 All ACC Football (DE)
• 2010 ACC Defensive Player of the Year
• 2010 All American (unanimous)
• 2010 Bronko Nagurski Trophy
• 2010 Ted Hendricks Award

Professional career

Bowers was taken with the 51st overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Measureables

Pre-draft measureables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 3⅜ in	280 lb	33⅛ in	10¼ in	4.85 s	1.76 s	2.89 s	4.57 s	6.98 s	34½ in	9 ft 2 in	22 rep	×
All values from Clemson Pro Day[7]

2011 NFL Draft

As early as April 2010, Bowers was seen as a candidate for the No. 1 overall spot in the 2011 NFL Draft.^[8] He remained at the top of most mock draft projections over the course of the season, especially after Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who was widely considered to be the No. 1 prospect for the 2011 draft, returned to school. Along with Nick Fairley, Marcell Dareus, and Patrick Peterson, Bowers was still listed among the best propects available as of January 2011.^[9]

Da'Quan Bowers was selected in the 2nd round (51st overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bowers was selected lower than expected due to medical issues, including offseason knee surgery.

Personal

His father, Dennis Bowers passed away on August 8, 2010, in Augusta, Georgia, at the age of 51. He was a gospel singer with the Legendary Singing Stars.^[10] As a child, Bowers looked up to Reggie White. Bowers has only one pre-game ritual which is praying. Bowers grew up as a Dallas Cowboys fan and is a Los Angeles Lakers fan.^[11]

References

1. ^ http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/2010_archive_awards.html
2. ^ http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/19355/bowers-accs-defensive-player-of-the-year
3. ^ ESPN U 150
4. ^ Past vs. Present: Look back at the best
5. ^ Five January Enrollees Join Clemson Football Program
6. ^ "2010 Bronko Nagurski Trophy". FWAA. 2010-12-06. http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/news/2010/nagurski101206.html. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
7. ^ Dagger (2011-04-29). "2011 NFL Combine Results". postgameheroes.com. http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=81999&draftyear=2011&genpos=DE. Retrieved 2011-04-19. 
8. ^ Lande, Russ (April 26, 2010), "Never too early: A first look at the first round of the 2011 NFL draft", Sporting News, http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2010-04-26/never-too-early-first-look-first-round-2011-nfl-draft 
9. ^ Banks, Don (January 27, 2011). "Sports Illustrated Mock Draft". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/don_banks/01/27/2011-nfl-mock-draft/index.html. 
10. ^ Thedeadrockstarsclub.com – accessed August 2010
11. ^ http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/37974/prospect-daquan-bowers

External links

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
• Clemson Tigers bio
• NFL Combine profile
• ESPN bio
• Profile by CBS on YouTube

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Ndamukong Suh	Nagurski Trophy winner 2010	Incumbent