Raiders staff 'changed their mind' on Jackson Powers-Johnson

First-year head coach Pete Carroll is tinkering with the Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line early in training camp. 

On Tuesday, second-year offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson was moved to the second-team unit at center, with Jordan Meredith handling the first-team reps, per Tashan Reed of The Athletic. On Thursday, Powers-Johnson was moved to the first-team right guard.

The Raiders initially wanted Powers-Johnson to play at center in the upcoming season, but "changed their mind" when they released veteran Andre James in March.

"Powers-Johnson started games at guard last year, but the intent was for him to lock in on center after the team released Andre James this offseason," Reed wrote. "That was the case through OTAs, but the staff changed their mind once training camp got rolling.

"According to coach Pete Carroll, the logic is Meredith is too small to play guard but holds up well at center. They signed Alex Cappa to start at right guard, but Powers-Johnson is a superior option there."

Meredith, a six-foot-two, 300-pound athlete, is decidedly much smaller than the six-foot-three, 328-pound Powers-Johnson. 

Carroll believes the competition between Meredith and Powers-Johnson this summer will ultimately make the team better.

"It's the heart of everything," Carroll told reporters on Thursday regarding the battle at center between Meredith and Powers-Johnson, via video from Taylor Rocha. "These guys are battling for their playing time... JPJ is working his tail off, and both those guys are battling, so it just makes us better."