The Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line struggled tremendously over the first three games of the season. However, the unit had, by far, its best performance of the year in Week 4 as it did not allow a single sack, and the running game broke out for 240 yards and 7.7 yards per carry.
Unfortunately, the line was dealt a massive blow on the second-to-last offensive play of the game. Kolton Miller, whose 86.0 Pro Football Focus grade ranks fourth out of 109 qualifying offensive tackles, suffered a high ankle sprain and a hairline fracture that has landed him on injured reserve.
The left tackle will be sorely missed as he has been, by far, the Raiders' best offensive lineman while also serving as a leader for the young unit. A Las Vegas reporter suggested that his injury could lead to an increase in responsibilities for Jackson Powers-Johnson.
Raiders reporter suggests Jackson Powers-Johnson's responsibilities could change
Powers-Johnson has had to compete for his starting spot throughout training camp and into the regular season. A concussion suffered ahead of Week 2 that kept him sidelined for two games did not help; however, he returned last Sunday and had his best game of the year.
With Miller set to be sidelined for the foreseeable future, Q Myers of the Locked on Raiders Podcast predicted that Powers-Johnson will step into a leadership role.
"Who's your leader on the offensive line now? Kolton Miller was that guy. Now, all of a sudden, you got JPJ as your leader, right?" Meyers said. "Because I don't see DJ Glaze as the leader. I don't think Dylan Parham's the leader. Jordan Meredith isn't the leader. I think it's JPJ. I think he's kind of got those automatic leadership qualities, which is fine. I'm not mad at that, but remember, this guy is competing for his job. He's competing for the right guard spot. He might all of a sudden look up and not even be in the game, which would be pretty tough."
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Miller had, by far, the most experience of the Raiders' Week 4 offensive line, as his 113 games played were just 15 games less than the other four starters combined. Meanwhile, Powers-Johnson has the least experience of the projected Week 5 starters with just 18 games played in his young career.
While the second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft has spent much of his second campaign competing for playing time, he has an opportunity to cement his status as a building block for Las Vegas' offense.
If he is able to step into a leadership position while continuing to produce on the field, it is hard to envision the coaching staff tinkering with his role any further. Head coach Pete Carroll loves competition, but he should love production, leadership and winning more.