Raiders' competition along the offensive line 'might be a closed deal'

The Las Vegas Raiders threw their fans and media a curveball at training camp when the team revealed a competition at the center position.

That competition has been taking place between Jordan Meredith and Jackson Powers-Johnson, the latter of whom was widely considered the likely starter at center after he played the position in college and split time between center and guard in 2024 during what was a successful rookie season for him.

While the competition was a surprise for Raiders fans and media, it turns out that Las Vegas has been eyeing Meredith as the center since OTAs.

“They came up and said ‘Get ready to play center.’ And I was like, ‘OK, let’s do it,’” Meredith told ESPN's Ryan McFadden.

Meredith and JPJ were rotating at the position earlier in training camp, but it now appears that Meredith has a firm grip on the starting center job, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“It looks like Jordan Meredith… at least for now, pretty firm control of the starting center job. He was back with the starters today, or I should just say, continued to be the starter today,” Bonsignore said on the Vegas Nation podcast.

“I want to say this is his fourth or maybe fifth straight day, lining up with the starters at center,’ Bonsignore added. “That might be a closed deal. We’ll see.”

If that's the case, Powers-Johnson's best shot at a starting job comes at right guard, where he has been rotating with Alex Cappa during camp. Cappa was signed as a free agent this offseason but is also coming off a season in which he was terrible.

It remains to be seen if left guard is up for grabs, but there hasn't been anything to indicate that's the case and for now it looks like Dylan Parham is slated to start there.

Meredith was a pleasant surprise at guard for Las Vegas over 14 games (eight starts) at in 2024, but he has never played a snap at center in the NFL, so he remains a wild card there.

The fact that Powers-Johnson seemingly hasn't locked down a starting job yet is odd, to say the least. He played well last season and has gotten nothing but praise from coaches and teammates, including Maxx Crosby.

We find it hard to believe that JPJ won't be a starter come Week 1.

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