Film room: Is Powers-Johnson the future at center?

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 the tackle to create that rushing lane.

Las Vegas runs a wham or trap concept here where DJ Glaze (right tackle) leaves the backside defensive end blocked and Brock Bowers works across the formation to take care of the end.

Meanwhile, JPJ has a down block on a 1-technique nose tackle. He does get stood up at the point of attack and has wide hand placement initially, but he maintains a strong base and recovers well by getting his left hand on the front of the defender’s shoulder.

That allows him to maintain control of the block and then the rookie’s strength takes over as he ends up pushing the nose to the other hashmark and creating a rushing lane for Zamir White to score.

Moving onto pass protection, one area where the rookie made a big impact was in the Raiders’ stunt pickups.

The Bengals give a tricky pre-snap look by putting four defenders on one side of the offensive line.

That forces the Raiders to use a four-man slide protection, isolating Trey Hendrickson against Thayer Munford Jr. to get a one-on-one matchup for their best pass-rusher against a backup left tackle. With the protection scheme, every offensive lineman (except for Munford) is responsible for the gap to his right while the running back inserts into the left B-gap between the left guard and tackle.

Post-snap, Cincy runs a three-man line game where the nose tackle works across the center’s face and the two standup linebackers loop inside to find a pass-rush lane. So, a lot is going on here but Powers-Johnson does a great job of using his left hand to feel the nose tackle while keeping his eyes on his gap to see the linebackers looping inside.

That allows him to recognize the line game and push the nose tackle wide to keep the nose tackle away from the quarterback.

Breaking this play down a little further, Whitehair should pick up No. 55 since 55 loops into his gap. However, he follows No. 57 instead and Ameer Abdullah does a good job of making Whitehair correct by picking up 55.

Here the Bengals give a much simpler or more traditional with four down linemen and no line games. Since the center is uncovered pre-snap and turns to his right post-snap, he’s responsible for the right A-gap.

The 3-technique tries to beat Meredith with an inside pass-rush move, however, Powers-Johsnon is sitting there waiting for the defender. JPJ has good pad level and keeps his hands tight, effectively stone-walling the defensive tackle’s inside move.

After contact, Powers-Johnson locks out the defensive tackle and uses his right arm to club the defender’s hand off his chest. That ends the rep as the interior of the pocket is perfectly maintained. Granted, the exterior is a different story…

Our last clip builds on the last one as it’s another example of excellent use of hands by Powers-Johnson.

This time he turns left and to the 2i-technique’s side. Initially, he does lose ground against the bull rush. However, he recovers well by hand-fighting with the defensive tackle, using his hands to get the defensive tackle’s hands off his chest. That helps slow the defender’s momentum and allows JPJ to re-anchor and win the rep.

Given Andre James’ struggles this season, I don’t see why the Raiders should move Powers-Johnson back to guard with how well he played at center last weekend.