Silver And Black Pride
Rookie had a very good game in his first start at center
During his first six NFL games, Las Vegas Raiders rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson showed flashes of brilliance but lacked consistency down-to-down. However, after moving to his more natural position at center in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Powers-Johnson made a resounding statement by putting together his best performance yet.
The Oregon product earned an elite 90.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, the highest mark 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—the best among centers and second-best overall—and didn’t allow a pressure in pass protection.
JPJ’s outing was impressive enough that he might take over as the Raiders’ starting center moving forward, so let’s dive into the tape and check it out.
The Raiders call inside zone to the weak side of the formation where Cody Whitehair and Powers-Johnson combo block the 2i-technique defensive tackle (No. 93) up to the WILL linebacker (No. 55). Those two get a good initial push and when Whitehair releases to the second level, Powers-Johnson keeps his feet moving through contact to widen the defensive tackle to the opposite hash mark.
That, combined with a great block from Jordan Meredith, creates a backside cutback lane for Alexander Mattison to pick up a chunk gain on the ground. As a side note, Meredith also had a strong performance on Sunday which the next clip also highlights...
The result of this play isn’t as pretty as the last one since Kolton Miller gets beat across his face, but the double team from Powers-Johnson and Meredith is about as good as can be. Not only do those two wheel the defensive tackle out of the weak side A-gap, but they also push the defensive tackle into the linebacker.
How about another excellent double team from Powers-Johnson and Meredith for good measure?
The Raiders run duo this time and once again, the center and right guard manage to push the defensive tackle into the second level, erasing a linebacker from the play in the process. The offense might have something special with those two in the trenches as they both played very well in Cincinnati.
Powers-Johnson and Meredith are working together again on this mid-zone call from the Raiders. The difference is they’re scoop blocking the 2i-technique defensive tackle (No. 93) where the guard’s job is to help the center get to the defender’s outside shoulder so the center can pin the defender inside and create a rushing lane in the B-gap.
This is pretty much teach-tape material from JPJ as he uses a bucket step initially to get on the correct path and move laterally, is physical at the point of attack and comes up with his hands/punch to help stand up the defensive tackle. To finish, he flips his hips and with some help from Meredith, puts the defensive tackle on the ground and effectively reaches...
