The Las Vegas Raiders began the 2025 season on a positive note.
The team knocked off the New England Patriots in an upset in Foxboro. Geno Smith, in his first game with the team, threw for 362 yards, and it looked like the Raiders were going to be a force in the AFC West.
Instead, the Raiders went on to lose their next three games and now sit at the bottom of the AFC West with a 1-3 record. One area of the team that continues to underperform is the offensive line- the Raiders are allowing three sacks per game, which is good for 24th in the league.
Coming into this season, though, there were hopes that the line would be much improved. Jackson Powers-Johnson figured to be a key piece of the line as the starting center, but instead, the team strangely decided to give that gig to Jordan Meredith.
As a result, Powers-Johnson was forced to battle veteran Alex Cappa for the right guard spot. Powers-Johnson missed Week 2 with a concussion, and despite being cleared for Week 3, Cappa still received the start over the Oregon product.
Cappa struggled majorly as the starter, and Powers-Johnson reclaimed his starting spot for Week 4. Carroll complimented Powers-Johnson's play and confirmed the former second-round pick will again start in Week 5.
It doesn't make a ton of sense for the Raiders to do this back-and-forth with Powers-Johnson. Cappa has not been good in years, and you'd think the team would want Powers-Johnson to get as many snaps as possible.
However, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly made an interesting comment on Thursday that may have hinted at the reason for Powers-Johnson's handling.
The coach was asked if he can feel the guard's presence up in the booth and Kelly responded by saying Powers-Johnson's head is "really big" right now.
"Let me just tell you, I love JPJ," said Kelly. "But, his head is really big right now, so let's just not start talking about that part."
Now, Kelly was laughing when he said that, and it was clearly a light-hearted jab. However, there's usually some bit of truth in every joke, and it's possible the team felt that the second-year player was getting too cocky.
"He's a tough kid, he plays his tail off, he's a physical player," Kelly continued. "When he was out, you lose that physicality that he brings."
Kelly made it clear that the team likes Powers-Johnson as a player, which makes it seem even more likely that there was a non performance-related reason for removing him from the lineup.
Either way, the "competition" should now be over. Powers-Johnson will be the starting right guard against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5, and he should be the starting right guard going forward.