It was a little surprising to see the Raiders use their second-round pick on Jackson Powers-Johnson. Not because he wasn’t worth the selection, but because the Raiders recently re-signed Andre James this offseason and Powers Johnson’s best position is at center.
However, Powers-Johnson is expected to move to guard, which shouldn’t be a major problem for him. He has the size and power to make it work; it’ll just be a relatively new position for him.
In a recent article by Pro Football Focus, they graded every single selection of the 2024 NFL Draft. Here is what they had to say about Powers-Johnson and his fit at guard in the NFL:
Powers-Johnson’s slide ends as the Raiders pick the interior offensive lineman with positional versatility. They struggled mightily at the guard positions in 2023, and current center Andre James was PFF’s ninth-highest-graded player at the position. Powers-Johnson allowed just one quarterback pressure on 481 pass-blocking snaps in 2023 and is PFF’s highest-graded college center since 2022 (91.5).
The expectation is that the Raiders will slide Powers-Johnson to right guard and Thayer Munford will start at right tackle. That would make the right side of the offensive line significantly bigger than in previous years and the hope is that they could open up some holes in the run game.
At this stage, it would be a major shock if Powers-Johnson isn’t starting on Day 1. But it’s also possible that he might not be the team’s long-term answer at guard either. They could decide to move him back to center down the road, but that is a concern for another day.
