LAS VEGAS – It would be easy — and lazy — to make Jackson Powers-Johnson the face of the Raiders’ offensive line dysfunction over the last two years.
Doing so, however, would let too many others off the hook: the bad coaching, the revolving door of regimes and schemes, the instability and inconsistency at quarterback, and the injuries that have derailed both Kolton Miller and Powers-Johnson himself.
But here’s the uncomfortable reality: Powers-Johnson is connected to all of it.
Not because he created the problems, but because he has been caught in the middle of them. And in many ways, his uneven start has mirrored the larger struggles of a unit that has failed to establish an identity.
He has become the lightning rod for a much bigger problem.
Which is why what happened Thursday was so noteworthy.
For the first time all camp, the Raiders began mixing in Caleb Rogers at right guard with the first-team offense. In the six previous practices, Powers-Johnson had been the fixture at that position with the top group.
“Just competition,” Powers-Johnson said.
Actually, it was another reminder of the frustrating pattern that has defined Powers-Johnson’s young career: every sign of progress has too often been followed by a setback.
The injuries. The stretches of inconsistent play. The challenge of processing the inevitable adversity that comes with professional football.
Or, as someone with knowledge of the situation put it: “He can sometimes slide in the wrong direction.”
It’s why there are no guarantees Powers-Johnson is locked into a starting job.
And that is disappointing, considering the investment the Raiders made in him and the belief within the building that he still has a chance to become a high-level player, if not the perfect embodiment of what the franchise wants to be.
Powers-Johnson was drafted in the second round of the 2024 draft to be the next great Raiders offensive lineman.
His toughness. His athleticism. His physicality.
Everything about him felt pulled straight from Silver and Black central casting.
He wasn’t just projected to be a Raider.
He was built for it. Raised for it, even.
And that’s what makes this all hit harder.
The pocket breaks down too quickly. The running lanes rarely materialize. Promising backs, now including Ashton Jeanty, are left searching for space that never comes.
It’s all connected.
And fair or not, Powers-Johnson is right in the middle of a unit that hasn’t just underachieved.
It has failed.
So much so that Powers-Johnson recently pulled himself off social media out of self-preservation. Between the toxic negativity and the constant reminders that the early part of his career has not unfolded the way many expected, the pressure was mounting.
“Anxiety,” is how Powers-Johnson described it.
He repeated the word multiple times during a conversation with reporters on Thursday, offering a rare glimpse into the mental toll that comes when the expectations placed on a young player collide with the reality of a difficult start.
The physical battles are obvious.
The mental ones are often hidden.
And now the Raiders’ offensive line sits at a crossroads, with Powers-Johnson standing in the middle of the intersection.
Raiders Options on Offensive Line
One direction leads toward the future the organization envisioned when it selected him out of Oregon.
The other leads toward difficult questions about whether patience is becoming an excuse.
The first, and clearly preferred, outcome is this: Powers-Johnson finally shakes the injury bug that has cost him significant time over the last two years and delivers the kind of physical, high-level play the Raiders envisioned when they drafted him.
If that happens, it has a chance to change everything.
It would inject life into a group now under the guidance of head coach Klint Kubiak and offensive line coach Rick Dennison. It would stabilize a unit built around the arrival of Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum, the presence of steady veteran guard Spencer Burford, a healthy Miller, and the continued development of promising third-year tackle DJ Glaze.
And the ripple effects would be real.
Quarterback play, whether it’s Kirk Cousins or rookie Fernando Mendoza, would immediately benefit from cleaner pockets and more time.
Jeanty would finally have room to operate, putting him in position for a breakout season.
Brock Bowers would have the space and rhythm to emerge as one of the league’s most dynamic offensive weapons.
For the first time in a long time, the Raiders wouldn’t just be hoping for progress.
They’d have a legitimate path to it.
The second possibility is far less appealing, but very much on the table.
Powers-Johnson continues to struggle – whether because of injuries, inconsistent play, or both – and Rogers eventually takes over the right guard job.
Rogers is a promising second-year guard out of Texas Tech who also has deeper ties to the current Raiders leadership structure than Powers-Johnson does.
Former Raiders general manager Tom Telesco drafted Powers-Johnson.
John Spytek, now in his second year as the Raiders’ general manager, drafted Rogers.
Powers-Johnson did what he could not to dwell on the pressures of living up to expectations. In fact, he rejected any sense of urgency he might be feeling about winning a starting job
“That’s what you guys want to say,” he said flatly. “I’m just trying to get better every day. We are trying to get better every day. It’s not about what I do or what I put out there. It’s about what we do. It’s not one person; it’s a whole team. We’re not looking five, six months into the future. I’m not pocket watching. I’m not going to look all over that, because that’s anxiety and that’s something I don’t need. And that’s something we don’t need as a team as well.”
By no means will personal allegiance determine who wins the job. Spytek and the Raiders’ new coaching staff have consistently said meritocracy will determine starting jobs, roles and roster spots.
But it is still worth noting that it is often easier for a new regime to move on from someone else’s investment than its own.
That is part of the reality Powers-Johnson faces.
Ultimately, this will not be decided by draft history or organizational politics.
It will be decided by performance.
Powers-Johnson still has the physical tools, the mentality and the opportunity to become the player the Raiders believed they were drafting out of Oregon.
But opportunity is not the same thing as security.
In the NFL, jobs are won in the present, not protected by the past.
And Powers-Johnson’s biggest challenge is no longer proving he belongs in Silver and Black.
It is proving he can stay there.
