Much of the attention on the Las Vegas Raiders’ 2024 draft picks has gone towards first-round pick tight end Brock Bowers. got Crosby locked in for 2:30 pm PT on July 3! But second-round pick Jackson Powers-Johnson may wind up making even more of an impact for the Raiders this season.
Powers-Johnson was the best center in college football last season but will slide over to guard for the Raiders and is immediately slotted in to be the team’s starting left guard. He is already making an impression on many in the building, including Raiders offensive line coach James Cregg.
Cregg recently spoke about Powers-Johnson, saying that he was surprised at how promising the rookie was in pass protection and adding that he is extremely intelligent and is catching on to things quickly, via Aidan Champion of Sports Illustrated:
“He was making some progress early on,” Cregg said last week. “We had him at rookie minicamp, we grinding him out in there. We obviously have him at guard and he played center in college. He’s actually a really good pass protector. I was really surprised with that. I’m upset at the fact that we couldn’t really work with him. He’s been hurt, he’s been dealing with some kind of issue with his shoulder, but he’s out there now.
“But I wish we could have spent more time with him, but we’ll catch up during training camp. But he’s
a really, really bright kid, understands it, catches on quickly, knows when you ask him to do something he understands it, it’s not going to confuse him at all. And we’ve just got to really get him in the process of doing our offense. Our offense takes a lot of reps to master as far as technique goes.”
Winning in the trenches is imperative to the Raiders’ success this season, and Powers-Johnson will play a big role in that on the offensive line. For all of the weapons the Raiders have on offense, it won’t matter if the line doesn’t hold up, and they may have found a keeper in Powers-Johnson.
Cregg is in his first season with the team as offensive line coach, but he is ready to get the best out of this group, and if Powers-Johnson can come in and immediately fortify his position, the Raiders will be very difficult to deal with up front.
Jackson Powers-Johnson believes he fits right in with Raiders fans
The rookie is also getting on the good side of the fan base with his recent comments. Jackson Powers-Johnson recently spoke about his mindset on the field and how he is basically a ‘psycho’ in between the lines.
He feels this fits in perfectly with the Raiders fans, who he believes are just as psycho, while also calling them the best fans in the NFL.
