Raiders seem hesitant to embrace clear offensive line solution

Patience is already beginning to wear thin from Las Vegas Raiders fans regarding the offensive line.

One of the more baffling decisions in what was a blowout loss to the Washington Commanders was keeping Jackson Powers-Johnson on the bench. Despite being cleared and ready to go after a concussion knocked him out of Week Two’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers, head coach Pete Carroll did not utilize Powers-Johnson. While it could be translated as erring on the side of caution or keeping continuity in a short week, it is hard to justify those when the offensive line has struggled as badly as it has early in the season.

The most frustrating part about all of it is that there is a clear solution that can at least provide something positive, but the Raiders do not seem to realize it.

The best thing the Raiders can do is to trust Powers-Johnson at his natural position.

Even when Powers-Johnson gets back into the lineup, comments made by Carroll after the Commanders game suggest that a position change is not happening.

“We’re working at the right guard spot. Our young guys, they’ll get their turn sometime, but they’re not ready yet. So, we have what we have, and we got to make our guys do better, and we got to fit it together better than we have,” Carroll said.

This has to be frustrating for Powers-Johnson, as the insistence of playing him at guard is something that has been a continuous problem even before Carroll arrived.

During his appearance on The Rush with Maxx Crosby, Powers-Johnson opened up a story last season. When Andre James went down with an injury during Week Eight against the Kansas City Chiefs, coaches were worried about who would replace him as the starting center. Powers-Johnson, visibly upset that he was being overlooked, went over to then-head coach Antonio Pierce to let him know that he was the man for the job.

“I was irate, I was pissed … I went up to AP and was like ‘Coach, respectfully, I’m going to play (expletive) center. I won the Rimington [Trophy for best center in college football.] I can do this,” Powers-Johnson recalled saying.

If the struggles continue to pile up for the Raiders, Powers-Johnson might need to give a similar piece of his mind to Carroll to get things moving again.