One of our favorite prospects for the 2024 NFL draft is former Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson. His style of play lines up perfectly with what the Pittsburgh Steelers need in a leader on the offensive line and fills the team’s top NFL draft need. We have been committed to the Steelers using the No. 20 overall pick on Jackson-Powers without hesitation.
But ESPN NFL draft writer Matt Miller claims that NFL teams aren’t as high on Jackson-Powers as the pundits and he could fall out of the Top 25 picks.
In talking to scouts over the past two weeks, it sounds like teams are not as high on Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson as the media consensus. JPJ had a strong early performance at the Senior Bowl before leaving the second practice with a hamstring injury. It was that early impression that saw him rise up draft boards. He followed that up with a good showing in position drills at the [2024 NFL] Combine, but didn’t participate in most of the other drills — he did only the bench press and vertical/broad jumps — before shutting it down. The feedback I’ve received from teams is that while he might go in the first round, it’s unlikely that he would be selected in the top 25 picks based on where teams are ranking him,
Pittsburgh must add a starter-quality center in this draft and that has to happen in the first two rounds. If Jackson-Powers isn’t the pick, a guy like Graham Barton, Troy Fautanu or Zach Frazier are excellent options as well.
