Raiders: Reviewing the options at the right tackle position

Raiders: Reviewing the options at the right tackle position

Thayer Munford Jr.

The first-two options are by far the most realistic, but there is a third who’s still in the realm of realism, who has to be my favorite draft pick for the Raiders this year: Thayer Munford Jr.

Munford was a four-year starter at Ohio State, where he helped make magic happen for the school. Some additional accolades include being a team captain for the ’21 season, as well as being honored as a first-team All-American in the same year.

Surprisingly, the Ohio State tackle fell to the seventh round, where Las Vegas happily grabbed him.

It’s hard to imagine a seventh-round draft pick coming in and taking the job of a first-round pick the previous year, as well as a top-20 paid right tackle, but if anyone can do it, it’s Munford. To get a four-year starter at a school as prestigious as OSU is a great thing, to say nothing of the leadership his captain title represents. To do it in the seventh round is basically stealing.

On the PFF big board, Munford weighed in at no.151. This came from the seventh-round pick allowing only 16 pressures on 438 pass-blocking plays. A contributor of “Buckeye Talk” predicted the Raiders selecting Munford, but in the fifth-round at 164. This was really found money for Ziegler.

If for whatever reason both Parker and Leatherwood fail to earn the starting role at right tackle, it could be because of Munford. If it isn’t the former Ohio State offensive lineman, there is still one realistic option for the Raiders.