Limited playing experience with an injury history and not at a position of need: this description could fit Amarius Mims if only he played center, but instead it applies to Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson. While not the first time we’ve heard this, Matt Williamson brought up the subject on the Breakfast with Benz podcast.
“I hate to throw this out there, because I don’t know it to be true”, he prefaced in conversation with Tim Benz. “I’m not a reporter, I’m not a doctor. But there have been some rumblings about a medical concern with concussion history. I’ve heard it from multiple sources—I hope it’s not the case”.
But the thing is, he doesn’t need to be a reporter or a doctor to hear the rumblings, and he’s not the only one. Draft Network found JC Cornell highlighted concerns with Powers-Johnson’s concussion history yesterday as well. And Dane Brugler also acknowledged these and other medical concerns in his draft profile. “The medicals will be important after he battled multiple injuries, including groin and hip issues in 2023 along with multiple concussions over his career”, he wrote.
Powers-Johnson isn’t the first player in college football history to deal with concussions before reaching the NFL. I will just note that a search for “concussion” in Brugler’s scouting report folder yields 24 hits, including big names. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Kedon Slovis note concussions in their profiles, Slovis with multiple concussions.
Still, when you add in Powers-Johnson’s limited playing experience and the relative value of his position, it’s hard to see him going in the first round. He may even fall to the Pittsburgh Steeler with the 51st-overall pick in the second round.
All teams flag players for medicals, which is why they do extra work on them. Powers-Johnson, who believes he’s a first-round center, was at the Combine. But as of a couple weeks ago, several teams hosted him for pre-draft visits. And chances are he’s gone on at least a few more visits since then, no doubt many to check medicals.
As you no doubt already know or surmise, the Steelers are among the teams who have hosted Powers-Johnson. They’ve certainly done their homework on him and on the center class in general. The real question is if they manage to land one of the top names or they have to wait on the next tier.
Powers-Johnson is the top center they have the best shot at in the second round, I think, with an outside shot that Zach Frazier falls as well. I can’t see any scenario on which Graham Barton slips out of the first round at this point, however. Indeed, he’s quickly become the consensus pick for the Steelers in the first round.
If that proves true, then Powers-Johnson’s medicals are moot so far as it concerns the Steelers’ draft plans. Although perhaps not entirely. If they do have concerns with his concussion history, they may feel a greater need to draft a first-round center. So there you have it.
