Raiders: Is Jackson Powers-Johnson’s focus on the future?

Through his first six NFL games, Las Vegas Raiders rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson showed flashes of brilliance but lacked consistency. However, after switching to his more natural position at center in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Powers-Johnson made a clear statement with his best performance to date.

The Oregon product received an elite overall grade of 90.6 from Pro Football Focus, the highest grade of any center last week and third-best among offensive linemen regardless of position. He was dominant as a run blocker, earning a 91.7 grade in that department — best among centers and second-best overall — and allowed no pressure in pass protection.

JPJ’s performance was impressive enough that he could take on the role of the Raiders’ starting center in the future, so let’s dive into the tape and take a look.

The Raiders call the inside zone to the weak side of the formation, where Cody Whitehair and the Powers-Johnson combination block the 2i-technique defensive tackle (#93) to the WILL linebacker (#55). These two get a good initial push, and as Whitehair releases to the second level, Powers-Johnson keeps his feet moving through contact to extend the defensive tackle to the opposing hash mark.

Combined with a great block from Jordan Meredith, this creates a backside cutback lane for Alexander Mattison to gain a big lead on the ground. On a side note, Meredith also had a strong performance on Sunday, which is also highlighted in the next clip…

The result of this match isn’t as pretty as the last, as Kolton Miller takes a hit in the face, but the double team of Powers-Johnson and Meredith is as good as it gets. These two not only push the defensive tackle out of the weak side A gap, but also push him into linebacker.

How about another excellent double team from Powers-Johnson and Meredith?

This time the Raiders run as a duo, and once again the center and right guard manage to force the defensive tackle into the second level, eliminating a linebacker from the play. The offense could be something special with these two in the trenches as they both played very well in Cincinnati.

Powers-Johnson and Meredith work together again on this Raiders mid-zone call. The difference is that they scoop-block the 2i-technique defensive tackle (#93), where the guard’s job is to help the center get to the defender’s outside shoulder so the center can hit the defender can hold on inside and create a rushing lane in the B gap.

This is basically teaching material from JPJ, as he initially uses a bucket step to get on track and move laterally, is physical when attacking, and uses his hands/punches to get up to the defensive tackle to withstand. Finally, he rotates his hips and, with some help from Meredith, puts the defensive tackle on the ground and effectively reaches the tackle to create the rushing lane.

Las Vegas is using a wham-or-trap approach here, with right tackle DJ Glaze blocking the back defensive end and Brock Bowers providing closure across the entire formation.

Meanwhile, JPJ has a downblock on a 1-technique nose tackle. Although he positions himself at the point of attack and initially places his hands wide apart, he maintains a strong base and recovers well by placing his left hand in front on the defender’s shoulder.

This allows him to maintain control of the block and then the rookie’s power takes over as he eventually pushes the nose to the other hashmark, creating a rushing lane for Zamir White to score on.

As for pass protection, one area where the rookie made a big impact was on the Raiders’ stunt pickups.

The Bengals provide a tricky pre-snap look by placing four defenders on one side of the offensive line.

That forces the Raiders to use a four-man slide guard, isolating Trey Hendrickson against Thayer Munford Jr. for a one-on-one battle for their best pass rusher against a backup left tackle . In the guard system, each offensive lineman (except Munford) is responsible for the gap to his right, while the running back fills the left B gap between the left guard and the tackle.

After the snap, Cincy runs a three-man line play with the nose tackle running across the center’s face and the two standup linebackers looping inside to find a pass rush lane. So there’s a lot going on here, but Powers-Johnson does a great job of using his left hand to feel out the nose tackle while also keeping his eyes on his gap to see the linebackers grinding inside.

This allows him to read the line play and push the nose tackle wide to keep the nose tackle away from the quarterback.

Breaking this play down a little further, Whitehair should be ranked 55th as 55 loops slide into his gap. However, he follows No. 57 instead and Ameer Abdullah does well to correct Whitehair on 55.

Here the Bengals offer a much simpler or more traditional game with four down linemen and no-line plays. Since the center is exposed before the snap and rotates to the right after the snap, he is responsible for the right A-gap.

The 3-technique tries to beat Meredith with an inside pass rush move, but Powers-Johsnon sits there waiting for the defender. JPJ has good pad level and keeps his hands tight, effectively blocking the inside move of the defensive tackle.

After contact, Powers-Johnson blocks the defensive tackle and uses his right arm to knock the defender’s hand off his chest. This completes the repetition as the interior of the bag is perfectly preserved. Admittedly, the exterior is a different story…

Our final clip builds on the last as it is another example of Powers-Johnson’s excellent use of his hands.

This time he turns to the left and to the side of the 2i technique. He initially loses ground against the bull rush. However, he recovers well by fighting with his hands with the defensive tackle and removing the defensive tackle’s hands from his chest. This helps slow the defender’s momentum and allows JPJ to re-anchor and gain the reputation.

Given Andre James’ struggles this season, I don’t understand why the Raiders would use Powers-Johnson at guard again given how well he played at center last weekend.