Thayer Munford Jr. is Still Vital for the Las Vegas Raiders

There was an effort to beef up the Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line this offseason, but third-year Raider Thayer Munford Jr. isn't being overlooked.

Oct 1, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell (4) is / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

A lot of emphasis was placed on the offensive tackle positions for the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason.

With Jermaine Eluemunor departing in free agency, there was a need to find his replacement and also add deoth to the position. Not to mention, team captain Kolton Miller comes off a 2023 season in which he was vey limited down the stretch due to injury, which called for precaution.

Throughout all this talk, Thayer Munford Jr. was a name fans and analysts seemed to somewhat disregard. Make no mistake, though, he is still a part of the Silver and Black's future plans.

"Works his tail off, came back in great shape, running," said Raiders coach Antonio Pierce when he spoke on Munford on Friday. "He’s got a little chip on his shoulder, right? I'm sure he reads the outside news, but he has looked really good. The thing about Thayer that’s special is he can play left tackle; he can play right tackle. We even lined him up at tight end at times last year. The versatility that he brings, but more importantly it’s year three, and he understands this is a great opportunity for him to really just say, ‘I'm your guy.’ And I told him, ‘It’s his for the taking.’”

Munford made 10 starts last season and was crucial in games Eluemunor or Miller missed due to injury.

"Have not forgotten [about Munford]," said Raiders general manager Tom Telesco after this year's NFL Draft. "No, it's funny because last week - I've had a lot of time, because the players
right now it's Phase 1 so they're lifting and they're conditioning, there's not like football work. But I
lucked out there this week and Thayer was doing some just some straight sprinting, some lead ups and some sprints, and you can see how athletic he is for a big man and what a smooth athlete he is.

"And I love the fact that he got some good snaps under his belt last year, so now we're really excited about where he can go as a player. We need to be eight to nine deep in that offensive line, and I think he can be a big part of that from what I've seen on tape last year and then just a little bit of watching him. You don't see big guys that can really move like that, so it's pretty exciting."

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