​Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak and tight end Brock Bowers have the potential to make a significant impact on the team in 2026. Coach Kubiak is expected to set Bowers up to thrive this season, which may work wonders for the team as a whole.According to ESPN’s Ben Solak in his appraisal of the new coach-player scheme pairings to watch for next season, Kubiak and Bowers were among the eight duos that were named, due to the potential for coach Kubiak to develop Bowers into even more of a prolific performer at the position.Given the unspectacular nature of the Raiders’ wide receiver room (Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor, Jack Bech, Dont’e Thornton Jr.), it’s fair to call Bowers the lone star of the Raiders’ passing attack. Given Kubiak’s willingness to feed his lone star nearly unprecedented volume, it stands to reason that Bowers is about to see a huge uptick in total opportunities. If Kubiak is who we think he is as a play designer, those opportunities will be high quality.Kubiak orchestrated the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning offense last season, which also produced the 2025 AP Offensive Player of the Year, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. His play-calling enabled Smith-Njigba to receive the lion’s share of the targets in Seattle last season and lead the league in receiving yards with 1,793, with much success out of the slot and on the outside.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBowers is in line to have a bounce-back season in 2026 with Kubiak set to put him in the best position to succeed. How he is utilized from snap-to-snap also figures to benefit the team in two-tight-end formations, which will allow Bowers to show himself to be a great all-around contributor at the position and help Las Vegas win more games.This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders’ Kubiak, Bowers among ESPN’s coach-player duos to watch