Tag: Thayer Munford

Former Raiders starting RT Jermaine Eluemunor to join Giants on 2-year deal

Raiders have a new starting RT next season as Jermaine Eluemunor is joining the Giants

One of the final big questions regarding Raiders free agents involved whether they would consider bringing back right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. That question has now been answered with a resounding no as Eluemunor is headed to New York to join the Giants on a two-year deal.

Eluemunor started 45 games over the past three seasons for the Raiders at both guard and tackle, most recently as the every day starting right tackle.

This officially puts the Raiders in the market for a new right tackle. They could end up going with former seventh round pick Thayer Munford there, but even if that were the case, they would likely bring in some competition for the job.

Should they be looking for an upgrade, the draft is said to be deep at the position, so they could look there. Or, possibly they could attempt to sign one in free agency who they feel is an upgrade just as they did in signing Christian Wilkins while letting Bilal Nichols leave (he signed with the Cardinals).

With right guard Greg Van Roten not expected to be back, the Raiders will have a new right side of the offensive line next season.

What Condition the Position is in: Assessing Raiders level of need at OT ahead of free agency

What Condition Raiders Position is in: Offensive tackle

With free agency under a month away, it’s time to check in on the Raiders’ offensive tackle position to give it a condition of either Strong, Stable, Unstable, Serious, or Critical.

Starters: Kolton Miller, Thayer Munford
Depth: Dalton Wagner, DJ Fluker, Jalen McKenzie
Free Agents: Jermaine Eluemunor, Brandon Parker

Miller was his usual mainstay at left tackle, outside of missing five starts due to injury. Right tackle was manned by Eluemunor for the second consecutive season. Munford filled in at both tackle spots as needed.

Condition: Serious

No worries at left tackle. But right tackle is a concern. They can limit that concern by bringing back Eluemunor, but regardless seeking an upgrade at that spot would be smart. Eluemunor can play tackle or guard and is a good piece to have around. Munford has also shown potential, but it would not be smart to move forward with him as the only option at such a crucial spot.

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 15 rout of Chargers

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 14 route of Chargers

What an insane game this was. Four days earlier, the Raiders were shut out 3-0 by the Vikings. Then they come out in this one and not only score a touchdown on their opening drive, not only score 21 points in the first quarter, not only go up 42-0 in the first half, not only scored 49 points before the Chargers scored for the first time, but scored a franchise record 63 points in a 63-21 trouncing of the Chargers.

That was one heck of a run-on sentence.

So, you might just see a heavy dose of Ballers this week. I wasn’t even sure there’d be a Buster, but in the end I found one. But just one.

Raiders Week 14 snap counts vs Chargers: LT Thayer Munford plays full game, no sacks allowed

Raiders LT Thayer Munford plays full game Thursday Night with no sacks allowed

No question Kolton Miller is missed. But Thursday night against the Chargers, his replacement held his own.

Miller has been missing games due to an injured shoulder and this week it was Thayer Munford who stepped in to start at left tackle and he had himself a game.

Not only did Munford play every snap prior to when the Raiders pulled the starters late, he didn’t give up a sack. He only gave up one QB hit and it didn’t happen until the third quarter with the Raiders up 42-0. And it didn’t affect that play, as Aidan O’Connell still got the pass off to Davante Adams for 18 yards — the longest completion on the drive that went for a touchdown.

Munford was a starting left tackle at Ohio State, but had been the primary backup at right tackle over his first two seasons as a seventh round pick by the Raiders in 2022.

Initially when Miller went down with his injury, the team opted to move Jermaine Eluemunor over from right tackle, but that didn’t go too well, and so they put Eluemunor back at right tackle and put Munford at left tackle. So far so good as neither of them gave up a sack in Sunday’s game despite facing Khalil Mack who sacked O’Connell six times in their last meeting.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Jordan Meredith G 64 100% 9 24%
Dylan Parham C 64 100% 9 24%
Aidan O’Connell QB 64 100% 0 0%
Jermaine Eluemunor T 61 95% 9 24%
Thayer Munford T 61 95% 9 24%
Jakobi Meyers WR 56 88% 0 0%
Davante Adams WR 52 81% 0 0%
Greg Van Roten G 49 77% 7 19%
Zamir White RB 45 70% 0 0%
Michael Mayer TE 41 64% 9 24%
Tre Tucker WR 29 45% 0 0%
Hunter Renfrow WR 27 42% 0 0%
Austin Hooper TE 26 41% 0 0%
Ameer Abdullah RB 17 27% 19 51%
Jakob Johnson FB 15 23% 10 27%
Hroniss Grasu C 15 23% 2 5%
DeAndre Carter WR 5 8% 9 24%
Justin Herron T 5 8% 0 0%
DJ Turner WR 3 5% 23 62%
Brandon Parker T 3 5% 9 24%
Brandon Bolden RB 2 3% 28 76%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Jack Jones CB 53 82% 0 0%
Tyree Wilson DE 45 69% 5 14%
Amik Robertson CB 45 69% 3 8%
Robert Spillane LB 43 66% 0 0%
Nate Hobbs CB 43 66% 0 0%
Marcus Epps SS 43 66% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 43 66% 0 0%
Divine Deablo LB 43 66% 0 0%
Adam Butler DT 40 62% 9 24%
Maxx Crosby DE 39 60% 0 0%
Bilal Nichols DT 36 55% 5 14%
Malcolm Koonce DE 33 51% 14 38%
Jakorian Bennett CB 32 49% 5 14%
Jerry Tillery DT 28 43% 3 8%
Janarius Robinson DE 23 35% 5 14%
Luke Masterson LB 22 34% 28 76%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 22 34% 24 65%
Christopher Smith SS 22 34% 20 54%
Tyler Hall CB 22 34% 16 43%
John Jenkins DT 17 26% 4 11%
Amari Burney LB 11 17% 14 38%
Curtis Bolton LB 10 15% 28 76%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Jesper Horsted TE 0 0% 23 62%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 19 51%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 15 41%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 15 41%

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

There were more than a few people who were surprised at how the Raiders hung around with the Dolphins the entire game in Miami. Many thought the Raiders would get their doors blown off and that isn’t so much disrespect for the Raiders as much as it is respect for the Dolphins.

But Antonio Pierce has the Raiders playing inspired football. Even if, at times, it isn’t great football — at least not on the offensive side of the ball — it’s inspired. And that’s all you can really hope for if you hope to get the most out of the talent you have available.

Hence the reason this game was never more than a one-score difference for either team and went down to the wire before the Dolphins won it 20-13.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby, DE Malcolm Koonce

In a game of defensive heroics, Maxx was still the heroic-est. But this time he got a little help from the other side of the line.

We pick things up in the third quarter. That’s when the Raiders stopped letting the Dolphins get to the end zone. Crosby stopped their second drive almost single-handedly. They moved to first down at the Vegas 36. Then Crosy got in the backfield to make the stop on run stuff for one yard. Next play he helped make a tackle on a two-yard catch. And on third down, got pressure to force a bad throw. The Dolphins attempted a 50-yard field goal and missed.

The next drive ended when Koonce got pressure up the middle on a stunt to force an incompletion, leading to another field goal attempt. This one connected from 41 yards out. Koonce would get pressure to help end the next drive as well with the Dolphins again settling for a field goal.

The fourth quarter saw three possessions by the Dolphins for a total of 19 yards of offense. The first had Koonce made a run stuff, then ended with a vicious tackle by Crosby to make the stop well shy of the sticks. The second was upended with Koonce forcing a holding penalty that the Dolphins couldn’t overcome. The final possession, they got their only first down on the fourth quarter, but it still ended three plays later with Crosby getting a pressure to force an incompletion. That defensive stand gave the Raiders offense one more shot with just under two minutes remaining.

CB Nate Hobbs, S Isaiah Pola-Mao

After the Raiders went up 10-7 in the first quarter, the Dolphins led out the second quarter looking like they might respond with a touchdown to retake the lead. Hobbs saw to it that didn’t happen. Once they got to the 30-yard-line, Hobbs made two tackles on short catches. The Dolphins would still drive to inside the five-yard-line. They would go for it on fourth-and-one from the three-yard-line and it was Hobbs who came up to make the initial hit behind the line and Pola-Mao finished it off for the turnover on downs.

In the final seconds of the second quarter, the Dolphins were up 14-10 and driving. That was until Hobbs punched the ball out to force a fumble and give the Raiders the ball at the Miami 32-yard-line. The ensuing field goal made it a one-point game at the half.

First play of the third quarter, Pola-Mao picked off a deep Tua Tagovailoa pass. He later teamed up on a stop on third down.

Hobbs and Pola-Mao finished third and fourth on the team in tackles respectively. And they combined for two of the Raiders’ three takeaways in the game.

P AJ Cole

Cole was launching some punts into orbit in this game. His first punt went 50 yards with an illegal blindside block at the end of it to start the Dolphins’ drive at the 14-yard-line.

He added a 53-yard punt in the second quarter that was fair caught. And later in the quarter broke off a beauty that traveled 61 yards and bounced out of bounds at the 12-yard-line.

Then in the third quarter he booted a 51-yard punt the was fair caught at the 15. And, finally, he kicked another 53-yarder with an illegal block on the return that started the Dolphins possession at their own 10.

A couple weeks ago against the Giants, Cole had four punts of 63 yards or more, which set a record. But this game was better in some regards, because of those big punts, only one was stopped inside the 20-yard-line. And two of them went for touchbacks. In fact, in Sunday’s game in Miami, on six punts, Cole had zero touchbacks and the Dolphins started their drive inside the 20 four times. That usually means better hang time and better placement. Which is preferable to just simple punt distance.

LB Robert Spillane

It might not surprise you to learn that Spillane led the Raiders in tackles (13). He also had a tackle for loss and a pass breakup that was very nearly an interception. Because of course he did. He’s become quite the ball hawk this season.

His first tackle of the game went for a loss. Then on the Dolphins’ first drive of the second quarter, he had three run stops, including a stop on third and ten just short of the sticks. The Dolphins went for it on fourth-and-one from the three and couldn’t convert.

Spillane was a big factor in stopping the Dolphins on their final two drives, thus giving the Raiders offense two more shots at tying the game late. He was in on the tackle on third-and-15 to force the first punt. Then he was in on the run stop on their second to last play as well.

Honorable Mention

WR Davante Adams — Got open a lot in this game. It wasn’t his fault Aidan O’Connell only connected with him on one deep shot. But it was the Raiders’ one TD in the game.

LB Luke Masterson — Forced the fumble on the Dolphins’ first drive to start the Raiders second possession already in scoring range.

DC Patrick Graham — While Antonio Pierce gets credit for this team playing inspired football, Graham should get some love for his work as well.

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Raiders Week 10 snap counts vs Jets: Jermaine Eluemunor plays every snap at left tackle

Raiders Week 10 snap counts vs Jets: Jermaine Eluemunor plays every snap at left tackle

With starting left tackle Kolton Miller’s shoulder injury, the Raiders kept it under wraps who would be replacing him at left tackle. In the end it wasn’t the next man up on the depth chart but rather a shuffle of linemen as they attempt to field the best five.

The most likely option was the one they went with which was the move right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor to the left side and bring in Thayer Munford to play right tackle.

For depth the team elevated Brandon Parker from the practice squad. Along with Justin Herron they had reinforcements should they need them.

The didn’t end up needing any reinforcements. Eluemunor played every snap at left tackle and Munford played every snap at right tackle. Herron played four snaps as an extra tackle in jumbo packages and Parker played four snaps on special teams.

The Jets still got good pressure, with much of that came from the inside as Quinnen Williams. Overall the Jets would sack Aidan O’Connell three times, with Munford and Eluemunor each giving up a sack. Though, to be fair, the Eluemunor sack allowed was because of pressure up the middle from Williams.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Thayer Munford T 64 100% 4 15%
Greg Van Roten G 64 100% 4 15%
Dylan Parham G 64 100% 4 15%
Jermaine Eluemunor T 64 100% 4 15%
Aidan O’Connell QB 64 100% 0 0%
Andre James C 64 100% 0 0%
Davante Adams WR 62 97% 0 0%
Jakobi Meyers WR 58 91% 0 0%
Michael Mayer TE 56 88% 4 15%
Josh Jacobs RB 53 83% 0 0%
Hunter Renfrow WR 27 42% 0 0%
Austin Hooper TE 27 42% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 15 23% 4 15%
Ameer Abdullah RB 10 16% 17 63%
DeAndre Carter WR 7 11% 11 41%
Justin Herron T 4 6% 0 0%
Zamir White RB 1 2% 10 37%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Robert Spillane LB 66 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 66 100% 0 0%
Marcus Peters CB 66 100% 0 0%
Marcus Epps SS 66 100% 0 0%
Maxx Crosby DE 66 100% 0 0%
Bilal Nichols DT 52 79% 6 22%
Nate Hobbs CB 51 77% 2 7%
Divine Deablo LB 44 67% 0 0%
Jakorian Bennett CB 36 55% 2 7%
John Jenkins DT 35 53% 6 22%
Adam Butler DT 32 48% 5 19%
Jerry Tillery DT 27 41% 4 15%
Malcolm Koonce DE 26 39% 19 70%
Tyree Wilson DE 22 33% 5 19%
Malik Reed LB 20 30% 5 19%
Amik Robertson CB 18 27% 2 7%
Tyler Hall CB 15 23% 5 19%
Luke Masterson LB 10 15% 23 85%
Amari Burney LB 7 11% 4 15%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 1 2% 21 78%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Brandon Bolden RB 0 0% 23 85%
Curtis Bolton LB 0 0% 19 70%
Jesper Horsted TE 0 0% 17 63%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 16 59%
DJ Turner WR 0 0% 16 59%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 9 33%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 9 33%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 8 30%
Brandon Parker T 0 0% 4 15%
Jordan Meredith G 0 0% 4 15%

Raiders vs Giants final injury report: LB Divine Deablo, FB Jakob Johnson both OUT

LB Divine Deablo and LB Luke Masterson OUT. LB Robert Spillane Questionable. Yikes.

The final injury report is out and so too are several Raiders players. Among them is linebacker Divine Deablo (ankle), LB Luke Masterson (concussion), fullback Jakob Johnson (concussion), and tackle Thayer Munford (neck).

As if it the linebacker corps wasn’t already thin, Robert Spillane is officially Questionable with an injured hand.

Last Sunday the Raiders found themselves down to Amari Burney and Curtis Bolton at linebacker. They signed Jaylon Smith this week off the Saints practice squad. It may be too much to ask him to be ready in a matter of days, so they will certainly be hoping at very least Spillane can go.

The Giants will be without former Raiders TE Darren Waller who suffered a hamstring injury last week, making his return to Las Vegas not as he had hoped.

Also OUT for the Giants is QB Tyrod Taylor and K Graham Gano.

Questionable are OL Evan Neal (ankle), OL Andrew Thomas (hamstring), and RB Jashaun Corbin (hamstring).

Ballers & Busters: Raiders preseason Week 2 vs Rams

Your Ballers & Busters for the Raiders’ second preseason game vs Rams

Another preseason in the books. And while the joint practices were probably more useful to the starters than the game — because many didn’t play and most of those who did saw just one drive — the roster hopefuls rely on it as a proving ground. Not just for the Raiders, but any other team that may be watching.

For that reason, it gives the Raiders a lot to think about. Obviously because they want to keep the best players, but also because they don’t want to risk another team scooping them up on waivers.

In that regard, the performances in the game means something. Whether it’s those who balled out or those whose performance was a bust. In other words…

Ballers

QB Aidan O’Connell

He’s two for two this preseason as the Raiders’ top Baller. This week he played the entire second half and was nearly flawless doing it. He threw for 163 yards on 11 of 18 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The fourth round rookie is developing quite a following this early on and deservedly so.

LT Jermaine Eluemunor, RT Thayer Munford

With Josh McDaniels saying Kolton Miller was a bit banged up, he moved Eluemunor from right to left and started Munford on the right side. And the two formed a wall for half the game.

The first drive of the game was led by Jimmy Garoppolo. The Raiders marched down the field 70 yards for the score. Along the way Munford was a key block on a ten-yard run, Eluemunor cleared the way for Zamir White to pick up the first and goal on third and one, and the next play Munford was part of the escort for Brandon Bolden to score from seven yards out.

There were several time Brian Hoyer held the ball much longer than you’d have liked. But because of Eluemunor and Munford, he only paid for it once. Two other times, he sat in the pocket comfortably until he found his man for completions of 17 yards and 43 yards.

WR Phillip Dorsett, WR DeAndre Carter

Those completions of 17 and 43 yards both went to Dorsett on consecutive plays near the end of the first half. Two plays later, his man was flagged for pass interference trying to keep Dorsett from beating him for another catch. And it led to a field goal.

But that’s not where Dorsett’s day stared. He had the first catch of the game from Garoppolo on the opening touchdown drive. He got a step on his man on a deep ball on the next drive, but the pass was behind him so it was knocked down.

Carter was impressive because he had nice plays in three different areas. He laid a clear out block on the first touchdown. Then at the end of the first quarter, he had a 31-yard punt return before just barely getting pushed out of bounds near midfield, and finally he had a nine-yard catch. Check those three boxes. We already know about his deep speed.

LB Curtis Bolton

As you might expect, this special teams maven made his first play of the game in the return game, getting down the field on coverage teams to make the stop at the 24-yard-line. He would make another special teams tackle later in the game.

In the second quarter, he was in on defense and made a run stop for no gain despite the defender grabbing his face mask.

In the third quarter he had a tackle on a short catch and a tackle for loss that was nullified by a holding penalty on the defense.

LB Drake Thomas

The undrafted rookie showed some great instincts and tackling abilities. He entered the game on defense in the third quarter and finished with a team leading 10 combined tackles, including four run stops of two yards or less and a tackle for loss and two tackles on special teams.

WR Keelan Cole

The O’Connell/Cole connection was clicking in the second half. For five catches on six targets for 60 yards. That included a 21-yards hookup on O’Connell’s first touchdown drive and catches of 11 yards and 17 yards on third and nine on his second TD drive.

Honorable Mention

S Isaiah Pola-Mao — Was in the right position to haul in an interception which he returned 50 yards for a TD.

G Greg Van Roten — Gave up no run stuffs or pressures while being a key block on the Brandon Bolden TD run to end the first drive.

WR Cam Sims — Made an impressive leaping touchdown grab along the right side of the end zone, dragging his toes to secure it. There’s value in being able to make catches like that.

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5 big questions on offense as Raiders wrap up minicamp

Raiders have a lot of pretty big questions facing them as they enter the heart of the offseason. Here are 5 facing the offense.

Every offseason brings questions that need answers. For this Raiders team, they may have more questions than answers. Some of these questions are no small thing.

Last week the Raiders wrapped up their offseason practices with their three-day mandatory minicamp. That means they have now entered the longest and final portion of the offseason. The next time these players convene will be training camp at the end of July.

They enter this six weeks with many things unsettled. Most of which will still be unsettled when camp begins, giving them a lot to think about over the next six weeks.

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 11 vs Broncos

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 11 vs Broncos

It was a nail-biter for these two teams trying to fight their way out of the ranks of the worst teams in the NFL. It was also a field goal festival as neither team does well in putting the ball in the end zone.

The game went back and forth all game with regulation ending with a 16-16 tie. Then the Raiders got the ball first and ended it in three plays.

Ballers

ED Maxx Crosby

It was the offense that won the game in overtime. But it was Crosby who got this game to OT in the first place. As the game went on, it was clear Russell Wilson was downright terrified of Crosby every time he got near him. And you can’t blame him, honestly.

With the Broncos up 10-7 approaching halftime, they lined up in third and one from inside the five-yard-line. Melvin Gordon took the handoff and looked like he would pick it up, but Crosby punched the ball out. The Broncos recovered, thinking they could at least get a field goal out of it. Crosby had other plans. He blocked the field goal try and in two plays turned a long Broncos drive into zero points.

He then ended three consecutive Broncos drives in the third quarter with two sacks and a pressure to force an incompletion. He would end another Broncos drive in the fourth quarter and they settled for a field goal to take a 16-13 lead. Holding them to three turned out to be the answer as the Raiders tied it up at the end and won it in OT.

WR Davante Adams

It was Adams’s savvy route running that sealed the Broncos’ fate. He had noted the way Patrick Surtain was covering him and made it look like he was running an over route only to run a corner route. Surtain sold out for the over, leaving Adams wide open for an *easy* 35-yard walk-off touchdown.

Adams scored both the Raiders’ touchdowns in the game. The first one came in the second quarter from 31 yards out. This after making a 23-yard catch to start out the drive. In total, he had seven catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

One of his more heads-up plays wasn’t a catch at all. Early in the fourth quarter with the Raiders down 13-10, Carr stared him down, causing the pass to be batted at the line and Adams turned defender to slap the ball down to keep it from being intercepted. That allowed for Daniel Carlson to come out and hit a 57-yard field goal to tie it.

LB Denzel Perryman

Perryman was definitely back. His presence is noticeable on this defense and he was feeling good too.

The defense started to pick things up in the second half. It started with Perryman shooting into the backfield to make a tackle for loss, helping lead to a three-and-out. He also led out the fourth quarter with a tackle for loss which led to another three-and-out.

Perryman finished tied for the team lead with five solo tackles, two for a loss and two QB hits.

RB Josh Jacobs

Jacobs was just churning out first downs in this game. He had three in the drive late in the first quarter to put them in scoring range, including a 14-yard run. He had two more on their touchdown drive in the second quarter.

Jacobs started out their second scoring drive with a 15-yard run. Then he had three consecutive runs for a total of 18 yards to set up their third score. And he made a 43-yard catch to set up their game-tying field goal at the end of regulation.

Jacobs finished with 109 yards on the ground and 160 yards from scrimmage.

G Dylan Parham

Somebody had to block for all those Jacobs runs. And often times that man was Parham. The rookie left guard was a rare bright spot on this shoddy Raiders offensive line. And he did his work without his lefthand man, Kolton Miller in the lineup.

Parham cleared the way on two good runs by Jacobs on their first drive into scoring range and the second went for a first down. And his block on a five-yard Jacobs run in the fourth quarter set up the long field goal to tie it at 13-13.

K Daniel Carlson

Rather unexpected that Carlson is named a Baller in the game that had his first missed field goal in over a year. But after missing from 46 yards out, Carlson went on to make from 52 yards out, a career-high 57-yarder, and the game-tying field goal from 25 yards away at the end of regulation.

He may have had a 56-yard field goal as well, but for some reason, Josh McDaniels opted to punt it instead. It was a strange decision to say the least, especially considering Carlson nailed the 57-yarder in the thin Denver air.

Honorable Mention

S Roderick Teamer — Looked better than Johnathan Abram did on his best day. Had some nice coverage and solid tackles and filled in well for Duron Harmon when he left with cramps.

LT Jermaine Eluemunor — Filled in admirably for the injured Kolton Miller. He wasn’t stellar, but wasn’t a glaring liability either, which is saying a lot considering the difficulty of the position.

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