Last year, the Las Vegas Raiders used their second-round pick (No. 44 overall) on Oregon offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson, who had won the Rimington Trophy (given to the best center in college football) and earned All-Pac-12 and All-American honors in his final season with the Ducks.
While Powers-Johnson was primarily a center in college (836 snaps), he did have some experience at left guard (26 snaps), right guard (408 snaps) and right tackle (five snaps).
This versatility proved helpful for the Raiders in his rookie season, as Powers-Johnson’s first snaps in the NFL came at right guard. He then moved to left guard from weeks 4-7.
However, when Andre James, Las Vegas’ veteran starting center, went down with an injury in the team’s Week 8 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, the rookie stepped up and asserted himself, telling his coach, Antonio Pierce, that he’d be moving to center.
“The first time we played the Chiefs, Andre (James) had gone down I went up to A.P. and was like ‘Coach, respectfully, I’m going to play (expletive) center. I won the Remington. I can do this,’” Powers-Johnson said on “The Rush” with his teammate Maxx Crosby.
Powers-Johnson held down center for the remainder of that Week 8 game and started there until James returned for their battle with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16. At that point the rookie slid back to left guard and finished his first professional season.
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The 22-year-old played 956 snaps as a rookie between left guard, center and right guard. He earned a 63.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking him 56th out of 136 qualified guards. He also earned a 70.4 run-blocking grade (31st) and a 68.3 pass-blocking grade (42nd).
That level of confidence to tell your coach what’s going to happen in a game is important at this level. It’s not the reason why Powers-Johnson will be successful in the NFL, but it’s an indication that he will be.
Powers-Johnson’s play and belief in himself gave the Raiders the confidence that he can play center full time going forward, so they released James this offseason and now the job belongs to the former Oregon Duck.
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