In a recent article by Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report, he wrote about every team’s best-kept secret heading into the 2023 season. For the Raiders, that was second-year offensive lineman Thayer Munford. Here is a snippet of what they had to say about the former Ohio State lineman:
That likely includes Thayer Munford who was a pleasant surprise as a seventh-round pick last season. He ended up playing in all 17 games last season, making four starts and giving up just one sack, per PFF.
Munford has the length at 6’6″, 320 pounds to play outside at tackle but could easily kick inside to play at guard. Essentially, the Raiders likely have their starting right guard and tackle between Munford and Jermaine Eluemunor.
Munford played 370 snaps on offense (73 on special teams) during the 2022 season as a part-time starter. While that isn’t a ton of snaps, it is a significant amount for a rookie seventh-round pick.
The hope is that Munford can make a big leap in Year 2 and challenge Alex Bars for the starting right guard job. If that doesn’t happen, expect him to battle Brandon Parker for the swing tackle job.
There is a lot optimism surrounding Munford going into Year 2 after a pretty productive rookie year,
