Two months ago, it looked like Jackson Powers-Johnson might be on his way to another disappointing season with the Raiders.
In July, reports seemed to hint Powers-Johnson was falling out of favor with the new coaching staff similar to the way it happened with Pete Carroll’s staff a year ago. And when Powers-Johnson missed the August 20 preseason game in Houston, there were rumblings that Caleb Rogers might move ahead of JPJ on the depth chart.
But the situation played out differently for Powers-Johnson this year and he was able to hold onto his starting job.
In Sunday’s regular season opener, he looked like the player the Raiders drafted him to be, and offensive line coach Rick Dennison offered an interesting detail on Powers-Johnson’s development with the FOX broadcast team ahead of the game.
Mark Schlereth was part of the FOX broadcast team for the Raiders 27-13 win on Sunday, and on his podcast this week, Schlereth shared what Dennison told him about Powers-Johnson.
“I sat before the game, and I talked to offensive line coach, run game coordinator, Rick Dennison, and I said, ‘Hey, Rico, man, tell me about these guys,’ and he was talking about a couple of guys on the right side,” Schlereth said on the Stinkin’ Truth Podcast.
“[Dennison] said Jackson Powers-Johnson… the first thing we worked on this off season was losing weight. He goes, ‘I want you to be quick. I want you to maintain your power, but you’ve got to lose weight.’ Even coming into camp, dropping the weight so he wasn’t so big. He is a different player, on tape, aggressive, getting after guys. He looks like the guy they drafted to be a long-term answer. I thought he was great.”
Raiders saw “very serious” JPJ in training camp and preseason…
Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers watched Powers-Johnson from the start of OTAs, and Myers believes Powers-Johnson seized the starting job from day one.
“I think he earned it. I really do, and I’m excited about that,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show two weeks ago.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen a lot of his, you know, media moments or post-game locker room sound. He’s been very serious… kind of on point where he understands, ‘Alright, this is who I am, this is who I need to be, and this is what this organization, coaching staff expects from me.’”
“I think that he’s come in with a really good mindset… what I’ve seen from him at camp, I think he’s earned that job. I think Caleb Rogers has done a really good job as well, but JPJ could be that guy that Lincoln mentions all the time, that MIM, that mauler in the middle. He’s the guy that has the nasty. He brings that nasty, and I really feel like that that can help establish the identity of this Raiders offense, a line that they desperately need.”
x: @raidersbeat