When the Las Vegas Raiders take the field in Week 4 for their divisional matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, they will likely be doing so without starting right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson. The young player suffered a groin injury last Sunday and has not practiced at all this week.
Barring a miracle for Powers-Johnson, it'll be Caleb Rogers entering the starting lineup for the Silver and Black, and this will be no easy task. Not only is this AFC West showdown a pressure-filled contest with potential playoff implications down the line, but the Chiefs' defensive front is stout, as always.
This will be the first real test of what Rogers can do, as he'll be playing in a regular season game with a functioning group around him in a favorable offensive environment for the first time. And if he answers the call, it wouldn't be crazy to see Klint Kubiak shake things up, as he already has this year.
Raiders' Caleb Rogers in line to start for an injured JPJ once again
Rogers played five snaps in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints when Powers-Johnson went down, but two of them were on Kirk Cousins taking a knee. But in the three actual plays that he was out there, Rogers looked pretty good, considering he was sitting there cold on the bench for hours.
On the two run plays, he had a nice combo block with Tyler Linderbaum to boost a four-yard Ashton Jeanty run, and on the second, he did his job to pave a lane for Jeanty, but someone else had a leak. His lone pass=pro rep wasn't much, as no one came his way, but Rogers admirably looked for work.
Him starting in Week 4 is a bit worrisome, though, as the Chiefs have a good defensive interior rotation, headlined by the inevitable Chris Jones. And Rogers doesn't have a ton of experience in the NFL yet, as he played just 284 offensive snaps in five and a half games at the end of last season.
If fans recall, these games weren't exactly a good barometer of anything, as the Raiders were sitting their star players and effectively tanking to get the No. 1 pick. Rogers wasn't exactly a standout, either, as he gave up three sacks, three hits and 11 total pressures in 179 pass-blocking reps.
He was up-and-down as a run-blocker, too, but Rogers showed a lot of improvement this offseason and in the preseason. It wasn't until close to Week 1 that fans learned that Rogers had lost the battle at right guard to Powers-Johnson, so this was closely contested until the end.
And Kubiak has said over and over again that he feels like Rogers and Powers-Johnson are both starting-level players, and that fans will see both this season. That, of course, ended up being prophetic. So, what happens if Rogers does play against the Chiefs?
What happens if Caleb Rogers plays well for Las Vegas vs. Chiefs?
There is precedent for Kubiak just letting Rogers keep the starting job if he plays well against Kansas City. When Darien Porter went down with an injury in Week 1 and Zeke Masses looked great in his spot in Week 2, that was all it took for Kubiak to name Masses the starter. Injuries lose you jobs here.
Powers-Johnson has been fine this year, making less glaring errors than in seasons past, but it's not like he has been lights-out. Before playing well against the Saints, he really struggled against the Los Angeles Chargers, giving up two hits and three pressures while missing a few blocks in the run game.
Does he have upside? Absolutely. And the good stuff with Powers-Johnson is very good. But he hasn't been reliably available, nor consistent, to this point in his career. If Las Vegas feels better about Rogers after Sunday, even if his ceiling is lower, he could easily get the nod going forward.
Another potential option would be for Rogers to replace Spencer Burford when Powers-Johnson is back healthy. Rogers has played right guard in the NFL, but he played left guard in college, and Burford has been significantly worse than Powers-Johnson this season, especially in pass protection.
A world could exist where the Raiders reshuffle things if Rogers looks good enough in Week 4 and they want to keep investing in Powers-Johnson. That may be less likely, but it could honestly be more favorable and beneficial for the Silver and Black in the long run, even if Burford is also still young.
Simply put, Rogers has a big opportunity in front of him to make a statement and potentially change his long-term outlook if he can show up big for the Raiders in a massive, massive AFC West showdown.
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