Silver And Black Pride
The Raiders seemed to have a competition brewing between veteran Alex Cappa and 2nd year G/C Jackson Powers-Johnson for their starting right guard spot after last year’s RG Jordan Meredith won the position at center. During his Monday press conference, Raiders HC Pete Carroll was asked about the right guard competition and stated that “given how much time he’s had, JPJ is going to be the guy that leads us into the opener” essentially naming him the teams starter at right guard, at least early into the season. Carroll would go onto say that “the competition is never over, we’re going to continue to look to play the best guy at all times”
After a rookie season where he logged 956 snaps (506 at LG, 421 at C, and 29 at RG) after missing the first two weeks, Powers-Johnson allowed two sacks and 23 pressures but was also flagged 14 times, which was the most in the NFL. On the other side, Alex Cappa logged 1132 snaps for the Bengals allowing 8 sacks and 51 pressures which were the most among all guards in the NFL. Prior to the pre-season majority thought the battle would be between Cappa and Jordan Meredith for the starting RG position, but with Meredith’s successful transition to center it came down to Powers-Johnson vs Cappa. After originally playing 40 snaps in the first preseason game, Powers-Johnson fell to 15 in week 2 and just 10 in week 3 while also running with the starters in camp. Through 41 pass block attempts, Powers-Johnson allowed just one pressure and most importantly was not flagged once. During his first preseason game, the duo of Meredith and Powers-Johnson worked well together and seemed to make strides in their communication. Meanwhile, Alex Cappa suffered a rib injury early in camp and missed nearly two weeks before finally logging snaps in the third week (though only 12) where he allowed one pressure in just 5 pass block attempts.
The Raiders decided to name Jackson Powers-Johnson the starting right guard, and it was a thoroughly earned position after competing for the role throughout the summer and training camp. Las Vegas will go into their 2025 season with their offensive line similar to that it’s been through the final two weeks of camp, Kolton Miller and Dylan Parham will anchor the left side while 2nd year lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson and DJ Glaze anchor the right side while Jordan Meredith stays at center. In terms of depth, Cappa will likely be first off the bench at guard in case of injures at center or guard, at center expect to see Powers-Johnson slide to center and Cappa to right guard.
