Was the Raiders starting offensive line accidentally revealed?

Like many other positions last season, the Las Vegas Raiders had to adjust the offensive line due to injuries.

Injuries to Andre James and Thayer Munford Jr. forced rookies Jackson Powers-Johnson and D.J. Glaze into action, as well as giving guard Jordan Meredith his first taste of NFL action. While the Raiders did see some promise from their new pieces, they were not planning on taking any chances heading into 2025. James was released and signed with the Los Angeles Chargers, but the Raiders made up for it by signing former Cincinnati Bengals guard Alex Cappa and drafting Caleb Rogers and Charles Grant in the third round in April.

With a clean bill of health and added depth, competition appears to have sprouted along the line.

The Raiders have some early favorites on who will start in the trenches.

While filling in for teammate Maxx Crosby on his podcast “The Rush,” Powers-Johnson might have inadvertently revealed who would be joining him in starting on the offensive line.

Unsurprisingly, it sounds like longtime left tackle Kolton Miller will be reprising his role for this upcoming season, while Glaze returns to man the right side.

“Kolton is going to be a steady rock. He needs an All-Pro year. He needs it. He needs it for his career, and he wants it for himself. We can see that, and we feel that. So, him just having that knowledge and experience, that’s always an added plus. He’s also kind of a mesh guy. He’s funny, he’s goofy, like us. So, we mesh pretty well,” said Powers-Johnson.

“The only thing he’s done is just get better,” the center said about his fellow sophomore Glaze. “He’s gotten so much better, and you have to give a lot of props to our coaches. Brennan Carroll, he’s getting DJ right, and we’re learning and doing new things that are making us even better. DJ has only gotten better, and he’s going to continue to get better.”

How will the interior offensive line competition end up?

While these two as starters are no surprise, what is is who will be next to Powers-Johnson on the offensive line. Despite the presence of Meredith and Rogers now on the roster, the fact that the center spoke about the veteran Cappa and pending free agent Dylan Parham suggests that those two are the projected starting duo.

“Dylan Parham, my dog. I love him. He is a physical S.O.B. He loves to hit, he loves to get after it. He is going to have another great year, because after this year, he’s on a contract year. So, it’s time to make some [money] for him, and I know that. We’ve talked about it. I walk with him to the locker room like, ‘I’m going to get you paid. We’re going to get you paid this year,’” Powers-Johnson said.

“Awesome dude,” he added on his new teammate Cappa. “The vibes are high, dog. The vibes are high with him. He’s awesome. He really is. He brings a ton of experience, and he helped me out quite a bit. He’s seen so much defense. He’s almost like the second center. He’ll be like, ‘Hey, you see that?’ So, he’s been helping me quite a bit. We’ve been having a lot of fun.”

It is great that Powers-Johnson is as exuberant as he is about who might be joining him on the offensive line, so hopefully that chemistry carries into the regular season.