As uncertain as it seemed the right side of the Raiders’ offensive line seemed to be this offseason, there wasn’t any uncertainty if you ask them. They had their guys already in the house.
Through the offseason so far, the first team right guard and right tackle spots have been manned by Dylan Parham and Thayer Munford respectively.
Both young linemen were selected by the Raiders in the 2022 draft. Parham was the team’s top pick in the third round and Munford a seventh round pick. And here they are entering their third NFL seasons with the inside track to be the team’s starters on the right side.
Parham had started at left guard since he was a rookie, but his offensive line coach James Cregg likes the former center better on the right side.
“Yeah, just watching him and doing what we’re doing, we run more wide zone and things like that and he’s just more natural, especially him being a center,” Cregg said of Parham’s move to the right side. “Sometimes centers are more natural being right-handed guys than they are left-handed guys for whatever reason, and he’s just more natural moving over there. And we just liked the way his footwork was better over there and things like that. The game was more natural for him over there, that’s why we moved him.”
With the Raiders plans to move Parham to the right side, it was the left guard spot that was actually open. To fill that spot, they drafted Rimington Award winner Jackson Powers-Johnson in the second round and signed veteran free agent, Cody Whitehair.
As of now, while Powers-Johnson works through a shoulder injury, it’s been Whitehair who has lined up with the first team. Whitehair comes over from the Bears where he played under Raiders new OC Luke Getsy and therefore makes a seamless transition along with the ability to help his new teammates learn the scheme.
With the guard spots figured out, that just left right tackle. Or so most thought. But when Cregg was asked whether Munford’s presence gave them the confidence that he was their starting right tackle, to which Cregg said “He did.”
“Especially watching the latter part of last year. He really jumped out at me a lot, and he’s been a good fit over there. His athleticism, he’s untapped. He’s still learning. He’s a raw football player. He’s still developing in my opinion. He’s getting better every practice. He’s getting more comfortable over there, but I think he’s – kind of like talking about Dylan [Parham] – he’s natural on the left, like you put him on the left he can totally do it. That’s what he did in college, he played both sides. He played more left than right, but he can go both directions. You saw it last year he can go step in for Kolton [Miller] when he needed to, and he’s been a pleasant surprise over there at right. He’s getting better too, so I’ve been really fired up about him.”
Munford split time almost equally between right and left tackle last season, first filling in for the injured Jermaine Eluemunor and then later for injured Kolton Miller. And, true to what Cregg said, Munford did his best work on the left side.
The thing you have to wonder though is whether that had more to do with settling in because he played LT later in the season.
Even with their faith in Munford, or at very least giving him every opportunity to be the starting right tackle, they used their third round selection on Maryland right tackle DJ Glaze. A pick that, at this point, seems like a good insurance plan in case things don’t go well for Munford. At which point Munford’s ability to play both sides would make him a viable reserve swing tackle.
