There's been a lot of Brock Bowers talk recently, and for good reason. After only one (admittedly historic) season, Bowers established himself as one of the best tight ends in football. ESPN confirmed that – which we were all obviously waiting for – last week when they ranked him as the best tight end in football going into the 2025 season. It's been about as fast an ascension into stardom – especially for a tight end – as Raiders fans have seen in a long time.
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And, kind of ironically, Bowers' domination in 2024 overshadowed a lot of other good performances from other rookies on the Raiders' roster. For being a team with such relatively-small expectations, there are a ton of good, young players in spots all over the depth chart. The Athletic – being the football hipsters that they are – took a look at Vegas' roster and found someone not named Bowers to highlight heading into the season. Two good Raiders players in one year?! It's a new day in Las Vegas.
Jackson Powers-Johnson could be the Raiders' under-the-radar star in 2025
"Powers-Johnson started 14 games as a rookie and lined up at three positions, left guard, center and right guard. While his level of play was solid, that constant movement made it difficult for him to be comfortable. Additionally, he came into the season too heavy and his technique was sloppy. He’s been able to focus solely on center this offseason, lost 10-15 pounds and has sharpened his fundamentals. He should be a plus-level player for the Raiders in 2025."
A plus-player! Now we're talking. Powers-Johnson felt destined to be a Raiders' star from the moment he was drafted by them last year, so I'm honestly not all that surprised we've arrived here already. He just has that Raiders vibe to him. He's also, notably, one of their better offensive linemen after just 14 games. Whether that was a testament to him or an indictment of the Raiders' line is something I'll let you wrestle with on your own.
If Powers-Johnson really does take his performance to new levels this year, the Raiders' offensive line – the left side, at least – looks awfully good; you can do much worse than him, Dylan Parham, and Kolton Miller protecting Geno Smith's blindside. Now he'll have so much time to throw it to ... someone.