Las Vegas Raiders Draft Outstanding Grinder on the Offensive Interior in Huge 2024 NFL Draft

The Las Vegas Raiders made an excellent choice when they decided to draft the University of Oregon Center Jackson Powers-Johnson.  Powers-Johnson won the Rimington Trophy last season which is awarded to the best center in collegiate football.  He was also a first-team All-American last season and a finalist for the Joe Moore Award which is awarded to the country’s best collegiate offensive lineman.  Powers-Johnson was an outstanding leader for the Oregon offense last season and leadership is an invaluable trait in the National Football League.

After reviewing his game film, Powers-Johnson is the definition of a raw mauler at the collegiate level.  His greatest asset is his killer instinct where he aims to blast defensive linemen and linebackers out of the hole on run plays.  He is a terrific compact run blocker and is a solid run blocker at the point of attack.  His greatest weakness is that he struggles with pad-level and flexibility.  While it may not sound significant, pad level and flexibility are the biggest factors for linemen sticking with blocks and being able to navigate on the offensive interior.

Given his aggressive and physical approach, Powers-Johnson has some impressive blocks that make his highlights entertaining to watch.  His highlight tape from the 2023 collegiate season is seen below.

Raiders will fit in perfectly and be a renewed voice of leadership on an offense that has torpedoed in quality over the past few seasons.  He will likely step in as a starter during his first season and could be one of those players to be a superstar during his rookie season.  Powers-Johnson will step in and displace center Andre James for the starting center position.  He is going to bring that elite offensive tackle qualities to the offensive interior and be a special kind of center.