When Cameron Heyward took the field last Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, he had a chance to exact revenge on the Oregon Ducks’ football program as he was matching up with rookie OG Jackson Powers-Johnson. Ohio State dropped its first game of the season, 32-31, at the hands of Oregon the previous night, and Heyward, a former Buckeye, was matching up on Powers-Johnson, a former Duck.
“If I’m adding to the story, I was already pissed about the Ohio State-Oregon game, right? So I went in the game saying ‘I’m going against an Oregon Duck, I gotta let him feel it,'” Heyward said via his Not Just Football podcast. “But it’s always something that you want to take advantage of a rookie o-lineman because they don’t understand the game as well. He’s probably gonna have a great career but I think there’s a lot to this game that a lot of o-linemen still have to learn. So you relish those opportunities.”
Heyward absolutely had his way with the rookie last Sunday. He only had four total tackles, but he also had one sack, a tackle for loss, and three total pressures. By the end of the game, Heyward was moving Powers-Johnson around at will and nearly had sacks on back-to-back plays. Had he completed the second sack, it would have resulted in a safety.
Here is a cutup of Heyward dominating the matchup, put together by our Alex Kozora on X.
Powers-Johnson is a player many thought would end up being selected by the Steelers in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was probably the most popular mock draft pick for the Steelers in the first round for the majority of the pre-draft process. They needed a center, and Powers-Johnson was viewed by many as the top player at that position.
Graham Barton ended up being the first center off the board to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 26 in the first round. Powers-Johnson went at No. 44 overall to the Raiders in the second round, and the Steelers of course took Zach Frazier at No. 51 overall in the second round. Powers-Johnson ended up getting moved to guard because the Raiders already have a center. But out of those three players I just named, Frazier has easily had the best start to his career. All three have shown a lot of promise, however.
Heyward makes a lot of offensive linemen look bad. That’s what happens when there is a 13-year experience differential and one player is very likely to someday be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
