Caleb Rogers elevating his game is just one part of the collective O-line lift

Aug 26, 2026 at 11:22 AM

Raiders Columnist

Caleb Rogers was thumbing through a printed-out bio of his college football-playing days at Texas Tech and he shook his head.

Then Rogers shook his head some more.

"It's funny," the Raiders second-year right guard told me on the most recent episode of Upon Further Review. "It's funny because it's too flattering. ... It's just kind of boosting my stats in an absurd way."

And therein lies the rub for offensive linemen - stats? O-linemen don't need no stinkin' stats. They just need to play, do their jobs and, well, go unnoticed. Because as that ancient football maxim goes, the less you notice an offensive lineman, the better they're playing.

Unless…they are knee deep in the most high-profile position battle of Raiders training camp.

As Rogers is.

With Jackson Powers-Johnson.

At right guard.

Every move is under a microscope. Every block. Every tick of body language.

As it should be.

"We just use that to raise our standard of play," Rogers said, adding that he and JPJ are not "comparing" each other to one another, but rather, "improving each other" in camp.

"You know, taking bits and pieces from each other. That's one thing about offensive line [play] is the technique that is being asked is going to be similar, but we are different players, so we're not necessarily going to play the exact same. But we can take small pieces of our game from each other, communicate with each other about what needs to be given, what needs to be done."

As in, how they can each adapt with the starters on either side of them on the line - Tyler Linderbaum at center and DJ Glaze at right tackle.

"What they need, what they like out of each of us," Rogers said. "I mean, that's just a part of us having to show up. That's just a part of the job, raising the standard of play.

"And so, it's a great spirited competition within the room, but it's all just about us. It's not about, 'I want to start, I want to start,' or, 'Him, him, him.' It's about us; it's about we … so our job is to meet that standard every single day."

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While Powers-Johnson started the exhibition opener against the Cardinals and played 21 offensive snaps, Rogers was right behind him with 20 offensive snaps played.

Then, with Powers-Johnson out dealing with an undisclosed injury, Rogers got the start at Houston and played 26 snaps on offense.

Thursday against the 49ers in the exhibition finale? Who knows.

This much is true, though - Rogers has made an impression on his new center.

"That's the thing about Caleb is he's always trying to find things to improve on, things to work on," Linderbaum said. "If you saw his notebook, you'd see the amount of notes that that dude takes."

A room full of reporters laughed.

"No, that's the kind of guy you want in the room," Linderbaum added. "He plays the game the right way, has the right attitude, wants to get better, wants to work hard, and we all need to strive to be like that and have that mentality."

Rogers finished his college career with 55 consecutive starts for the Red Raiders. He appeared in six games last season as a third-round NFL rookie for the Raiders.

It's all about paying dues for Rogers, while improving incrementally along the way.

And, under new O-line coach Rick Dennison, it's all about the "Jimmies and the Joes," rather than the "X's and the O's," according to Rogers.

"Rick, I mean, Rico, is very good at narrowing our vision," Rogers said. "I mean, I can't do everything for DJ. My job is not to make the point; that's Tyler's job. My job is to do what Tyler tells me to do, but my job is to do it well.

"That's something that Rico does a great job of - not over explaining, not doing too much or cluttering our brain, giving us paralysis by analysis - allowing us to go play free."

By many metrics, the Raiders had the 32nd-ranked O-line in the 32-team NFL last season. They addressed it by signing Linderbaum and left guard Spencer Burford in free agency, drafting Trey Zuhn III in the third round and banking on the likes of Rogers to take a step, or three, forward.

Whether he's a starter or a sub, Rogers has the same mentality.

"I'm still going to row, you know, I'm still going to show up," he said. "I'm still going to do everything I can to get this boat moving forward. I'm not the designer or creator of the river and where it's going to go. I don't know if I've got raging waves coming up or a calm stream, but I know I'm going to row."

Try finding that message as a stat in a bio.

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Las Vegas Raiders punter AJ Cole (6) on the field for practice at 2026 Training Camp at Intermountain Health Performance Center.