Silver And Black Pride
If you find seeing “or” on an NFL teams depth chart, don’t worry. You’re not the only one who found that intriguing.
But the mystery for the Las Vegas Raiders offensive line — specifically the right guard spot — was answered on Sunday. Head coach Pete Carroll said Jackson Powers-Johnson will start at that position in Week 1, concluding what had been a competition between the second-year Oregon product and veteran Humboldt State-alum Alex Cappa.
The question of Powers-Johnson or Cappa on the right side of the Silver & Black’s trenches is now moot.
While Cappa — a veteran who heads into his eighth year in the NFL after coming into the league as a third-round pick of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — missed practices and Las Vegas second preseason tilt due to rib injury, Powers-Johnson gained even more ground on the competition by being ready and available. But as soon as Cappa returned to practice this week, the battle recommenced, and both Cappa and Powers-Johnson — the Raiders second-round pick of the 2024 draft — dabbled in first-team reps at the right guard spot.
“Well, we can’t do any more than his injury allows, so we’ve got to wait it out. We’ve got a couple good weeks here, and I know he’s feeling way better, but when he gets his chances, we know he’s going to have to make the most of them,” Raiders head coach Pete Carroll explained when asked about Cappa jumping back into the competition. “JPJ (Jackson Powers-Johnson) is getting more comfortable, he continues to be really physical at the spot and he’s a strong and powerful guy so he’s making progress. …But as soon as Alex is ready to go, he’ll be battling again and get jumped back in there.”
Thus, the “or” on the preseason depth chart provides refreshing transparency. It’s indeed an ongoing competition and the fight for not only the guard spot, but other positions on the Raiders roster. The “or” is also present for the backup running back spot behind Ashton Jeanty as the qualifier is between Zamir White, Raheem Mostert, and Chris Collier.
To hear Carroll tell it, there’s a method to his madness.
“Yeah, we’ve been battling. We’ve been battling. It’s every day,” Carroll noted when asked about how he feels regarding the level of competition for his football team. “They understand that they’re trying to make it hard on the guy across from them just about to the point, Lonnie Johnson said in one of our meetings, when we were talking about competing, he’s talking about, I’m trying to piss you off. I’m trying to make you pissed off at me.
“He’s talking about pushing so hard that it’s uncomfortable for the guys across from and then you got to deal with it. And how do you respond? Do you go throw a punch, or do you kick somebody or hit somebody? Or do you...
