Raiders' offseason investment comes back to bite them, but won't hurt in the long run thanks to fast-developing rookie
The Las Vegas Raiders have a problem on their hands, a good one, but a problem, nonetheless. They signed center Andre James to an extension this offseason, and at the time it wasn't really a big deal. James has been a serviceable center since he's been in the league. But, shortly after when the draft […]
The Las Vegas Raiders have a problem on their hands, a good one, but a problem, nonetheless. They signed center Andre James to an extension this offseason, and at the time it wasn't really a big deal. James has been a serviceable center since he's been in the league.
But, shortly after when the draft approached, the second round came and Jackson Powers-Johnson was there, one of the best, if not the best, interior linemen in the entire draft. So, they had to snag him. However, their plan was to play him at the guard position, the guard position he didn't play in college.
And, JPJ still held it down, and was pretty good at the guard position, but had some mistakes here and there. And then James went out with an injury. Dylan Parham, the only other player besides JPJ who can play center, was hurt, and that opened up the opportunity for JPJ to be the starting center.
And, JPJ has not disappointed. He has been great, especially on plays where he has to pull and even plays where he is needed at the second or third levels to block. We have already seen highlights of him putting his body on the line.
The Las Vegas Raiders are now in a predicament, as James is healthy again, but JPJ is playing much better than James was. So, what do they do?
"The Raiders have a good problem to have," head coach Antonio Pierce said when asked what will happen with James back. "Yeah, just continuity. Unless something drastic changes today, I don't see changing the lineup. They've been practicing well the last couple of days together, and we'll keep it accordingly."
So, it appears that they will go with JPJ, which, to me, is the right option.
The Raiders have a pretty hard schedule coming up with the Denver Broncos Sunday, then the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Atlanta Falcons.
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