The Las Vegas Raiders have struggled in the draft for years now but have had some success in later rounds. One of the better picks that former general manager Reggie McKenzie made was taking offensive lineman Jon Feliciano in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
While he only lasted four years with the Raiders, he has been able to carve out a long career and has started 61 combined games for four different teams. However, his career might be coming to an end.
Felciano is currently with the San Francisco 49ers but hasn’t been able to play this season due to a knee injury. Unfortunately, the knee hasn’t recovered properly and he was placed on the season-ending Injured Reserve. At 32, it’s very difficult for a big player like Feliciano to recover.
He’s trying to keep the door open for a return next season but the veteran offensive lineman suggested that he may have played his last snaps in the NFL.
“Tried my hardest. Father Time real. Hoping this ain’t the end but if it is, Hell of a ride,” Feliciano wrote on X.
If this is indeed the end of Feliciano’s football career, he played for four teams in total, including the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills.
Jordan Meredith Making a Name for Himself
Similar to how Feliciano made a name for himself as an offensive guard for the Raiders, Jordan Meredith is doing the same thing. The former undrafted free agent of the Los Angeles Rams joined the Raiders in 2022 but wasn’t able to carve out a role.
Due to injuries. Meredith finally got a chance to start some games and may not be seeing the bench anytime soon. In just five starts this season, he’s proven to be a major upgrade. In fact, some metrics suggest he’s one of the best guards in the NFL. Pro Football Focus currently has him as the fifth-highest-graded guard in the league.
PFF’s metrics aren’t always a great indicator of how a player is doing but it shows that he’s at least a competent starter. If Meredith is the real deal, that fills a huge need for the Raiders going forward.
Is Jackson Powers-Johnson Done Playing OG?
The Raiders used a second-round pick to select Jackson Powers-Johnson this year but the plan was for him to play guard despite having most of his success at center in college. With Andre James playing poorly and getting hurt, Powers-Johnson has been starting at center and he looks much more comfortable.
James is healthy now but the Raiders continue to start Powers-Johnson at center, which could mean that he’s officially the team’s starting center going forward. Head coach Antonio Pierce praises the young player’s aggressiveness.
“I’m never going to take the aggressiveness away from our players, but being smart, I will. We’ll learn from that,” Pierce said during his Monday press conference. “We don’t want to be backed up. We don’t have those 15-yard penalties. But he’s fighting, right? We got a guy on the ground, he’s fighting for every yard, and he wants to finish off a player. And we’re going to finish, but we got to play within the rules of the game. And he’ll learn that, and we’ll talk about that today. But I am not slowing him down. I’m going to speed him up if anything else, legally.”
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