Oregon Jackson Powers-Johnson, one of the top centers in the 2024 NFL Draft, will spend plenty of time with the Pittsburgh Steelers during this week’s 2024 Senior Bowl. Speaking to our Jonathan Heitritter, Powers-Johnson confirmed he’s met with the team already and has another meeting with the Steelers on Wednesday night.
“Talked to Coach Tomlin yesterday a little bit,” he told Heitritter. “Just introduced myself, said hello. I had an interview with them, I think, two days ago. I think I have an interview with them tonight as well.”
It appears tonight’s meeting will be his formal one, perhaps talking with Tomlin longer than he did in saying hello on Tuesday. Yesterday, Tomlin buzzed around the o-line drills, a yearly tradition, and is always the closest coach around the action.
Powers-Johnson is competing to be the first center selected in this year’s draft. Based on all reports, including from Heitritter, he’s had a solid first two days of practice. In this one-on-one drill, he buried the defensive tackle into the ground, easily winning this rep.
Here is 2 minutes of Jackson Powers Johnson (@BigJax58) physically manhandling his opponent
Down blocks ✅
Reach blocks ✅
Double teams ✅
Second level ✅
On the move ✅
Pass pro ✅Lots of 🥞s on the film. pic.twitter.com/bDAeqNEtys
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 31, 2024
He looks the part at 6032, 334 pounds, though he lacks ideal length with 32 1/8-inch arms. Coming to Mobile can be a daunting task, picking up a new system on the fly, but after playing for three different offensive coordinators in Oregon, Powers-Johnson isn’t intimidated.
“We ran duo, inside zone, outside zone, and it translates a lot here. Learning this playbook here in such a short amount of time, it was easy to kind of pick it up. Because I ran those. It’s just different names and it’s different calls. All you gotta know is kind of those different things. But running an array of things at Oregon helped a lot.”
Following the 2024 NFL Combine, Oregon will have one of the cycle’s earliest Pro Days, held in Eugene on March 12. A potential first-round pick, history suggests if the Steeler’s interest is serious. Mike Tomlin and/or Omar Khan will be at the Ducks’ Pro Day. Every first-round selection since Maurkice Pouncey in 2010 has had Tomlin and/or the team’s GM (be it Kevin Colbert or Khan) at his workout.
It’s rare for Tomlin to travel West for Pro Days, but they did so for David DeCastro in 2012, who fell into their laps with the 24th overall pick. Perhaps it’ll happen again.
Check out our full scouting report on Powers-Johnson below.
