Tag: Thayer Munford

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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Raiders Week 11 snap counts vs Broncos: 9 offensive starters go wire-to-wire

9 Raiders offensive starters go wire-to-wire in OT win over Broncos

Injuries have put the Raiders offense in a position where they don’t have a lot of options to switch out. That means they need to hope whoever starts the game can go the distance. And that’s just what they got Sunday — even with the game going to overtime.

Nine of the team’s 11 starters went wire-to-wire Sunday.

Three offensive starters were out injured for the game — wide receiver Hunter Renfrow, tight end Darren Waller, and left tackle Kolton Miller.

The result was the Raiders keeping Davante Adams and Mack Hollins on the field the entire game. Adams played all but one snap and made the game winning touchdown catch in overtime.

Waller’s absence had Foster Moreau on the field for the entire game. He made the catch just prior to Adams’s game-winner. And he helped out with blocking due to Miller being out.

It was Jermaine Eluemunor moving to left tackle to replace Miller and Thayer Munford who started at right tackle. Had either been injured, it would have meant Jackson Barton coming in on offense. As it stood, Barton played only on special teams.

Only five other players saw time on offense — four of them were running backs.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Mack Hollins WR 66 100% 2 7%
Alex Bars G 66 100% 5 17%
Dylan Parham G 66 100% 5 17%
Thayer Munford T 66 100% 5 17%
Foster Moreau TE 66 100% 5 17%
Jermaine Eluemunor G 66 100% 5 17%
Andre James C 66 100% 0 0%
Derek Carr QB 66 100% 0 0%
Davante Adams WR 65 98% 0 0%
Josh Jacobs RB 53 80% 0 0%
Keelan Cole WR 44 67% 4 14%
Jakob Johnson FB 22 33% 10 34%
Ameer Abdullah RB 11 17% 15 52%
Brandon Bolden RB 3 5% 19 66%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Maxx Crosby DE 64 100% 6 21%
Trevon Moehrig FS 64 100% 0 0%
Rock Ya-Sin CB 64 100% 0 0%
Duron Harmon SS 62 97% 5 17%
Jayon Brown LB 62 97% 0 0%
Chandler Jones DE 48 75% 0 0%
Denzel Perryman LB 44 69% 0 0%
Bilal Nichols DT 39 61% 5 17%
Sam Webb CB 39 61% 0 0%
Anthony Averett CB 35 55% 0 0%
Andrew Billings DT 33 52% 5 17%
Roderic Teamer SS 32 50% 13 45%
Jerry Tillery DT 23 36% 5 17%
Neil Farrell DT 23 36% 0 0%
Clelin Ferrell DE 22 34% 6 21%
Tyler Hall CB 18 28% 1 3%
Amik Robertson CB 16 25% 4 14%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 8 12% 17 59%
Tashawn Bower DE 4 6% 9 31%
Luke Masterson LB 3 5% 24 83%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Matthias Farley FS 0 0% 24 83%
Darien Butler LB 0 0% 23 79%
Curtis Bolton LB 0 0% 18 62%
Jesper Horsted TE 0 0% 13 45%
Brittain Brown RB 0 0% 11 38%
DJ Turner WR 0 0% 11 38%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 10 34%
Trent Sieg LS 0 0% 9 31%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 9 31%
Lester Cotton G 0 0% 5 17%
Jackson Barton T 0 0% 5 17%
John Simpson G 0 0% 5 17%
Malcolm Koonce DE 0 0% 1 3%

 

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Raiders offensive line starting to ‘settle in’ now with very positive results in win over Texans

Raiders Oline felt like they were starting to ‘settle in’ after win over Texans

It’s safe to say the Raiders offensive line is coming off their best game of the season. They not only played a big role in Josh Jacobs having arguably the best game of his career, but kept Derek Carr clean as well.

Jacobs ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns in the win over the Texans. Most of those yards (98) and all of the touchdowns occurred in the second half as the Raiders offensive line wore down the defense.

It is probably no coincidence that they had such a game with the same starting five for consecutive weeks for the first time this season.

Granted, right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor went out on the first drive and was replaced by Thayer Munford, the other starting four were the same and at the same positions where they had started prior to the bye week. And Munford has played enough snaps at right tackle, having him come in didn’t disrupt anything.

Right tackle has seen a great deal of change going back to training camp, preseason, and the regular season. But so too has the guard positions and even the center position.

While Andre James is the returning starter at the center position, both guard positions have new faces. And they haven’t always been the same new faces. 

The new face the coaching staff has been trying to find a home for is rookie Dylan Parham. The top pick (third round) seems to have found his home at left guard. And his chemistry with left tackle Kolton Miller is showing up on the field.

“It’s just everybody moving around and now we’re getting comfortable with one another and we’re starting to settle in a little bit more,” Parham said following the Raiders win over the Texans Sunday. “Once you know how another player plays, you can play off of them. It helps the whole offensive line. But that’s the thing, we’re all one as a unit. There’s five of us, but we’re all one. So, once we start getting on one course it helps us play a lot better, so I feel like that’s why we’re playing well as we go along.”

Being the only steady presence on the offensive line, left tackle Kolton Miller agreed wholeheartedly with Parham’s assessment.

“We’re learning more from each other and we hope to keep it up,” Miller said of he and Parham working next to each other. “He’ll probably be there for a while. He’s growing a lot as a young player, as a first year player. He’ll talk and that’s the biggest thing is communication with all these stunts. He’s been coming in with a veteran mentality as a rookie, so that’s been huge.”

Getting the run game going the way they have in recent weeks has helped the offense considerably. Mostly it takes pressure off Derek Carr and the receivers. It also keeps the defense honest, leading to open receivers when they do go to the air.

It was clear that balance was off over the first few games and some of that was because the offensive line was not performing well. There was clearly a lot more blame to go around, but the offensive line is crucial to the success of an offense and it wasn’t what it needed to be. 

From the looks of it, that is changing. It has led to two wins over the past three games, and the other game was a close loss to the Chiefs. And that’s with right tackle still being a bit of an issue. Get that one figured out and we will see more runaway wins like we saw last Sunday.

Secret Superstars for Week 7 of the 2022 NFL season

From P.J. Walker to Marquise Goodwin to Dre’Mont Jones to Jevon Holland, here are the Secret Superstars for Week 7 of the 2022 NFL season.

There are all kinds of reasons that NFL players are underrated and unsung.

Perhaps they’re in systems that don’t best show their skills. Maybe they’re buried on a depth chart. Or, they’re in somebody’s doghouse, and their coaches can’t see their potential. Or, their efforts are relatively unnoticed among their more celebrated teammates. Sometimes, young players haven’t quite put it all together, but there are enough flashes to make you sit up and take notice, and when it does work, it’s all good.

Week 7 of the 2022 regular season featured players at just about every position who showed up and showed out despite their underrated statuses, and here at Touchdown Wire, it’s our job to point them out.

P.J. Walker, Josh Jacobs, D’Onta Foreman, Marquise Goodwin, Tyler Boyd, Thayer Munford, Aaron Banks, Matt Judon, Dre’Mont Jones, De’Vondre Campbell, Jevon Holland, and Ryan Neal are our Secret Superstars for Week 7.

Here’s why each of them made the cut.

Josh McDaniels: Raiders OT Thayer Munford Jr. made ‘some progress’ in his start vs. Vikings

Josh McDaniels: Raiders OT Thayer Munford Jr. made ‘some progress’ in his start vs. Vikings

Does offensive tackle Thayer Munford Jr., a seventh-round pick from this year’s NFL Draft, actually have a chance to start for the Raiders this season?

The notion seems a tad crazy — until you look at the Raiders’ situation at right tackle.

Veteran OT Brandon Parker is injured and had a shaky performance in the Hall of Fame Game. Alex Leatherwood, last year’s first-round pick and part-time starter at right tackle, is apparently falling down the depth chart, given he didn’t play until the third quarter of Las Vegas’ win against the Vikings on Sunday.

Instead, it was Munford that played the entire first half at right tackle, after Leatherwood started there at the Hall of Fame Game.

So how did Munford perform? Reporters asked coach Josh McDaniels before Raiders practice on Monday, and here’s a portion of what he said.

“I thought, generally speaking, (Munford) acquitted well for himself and did some things he’s been doing on the practice field,” McDaniels said. “It was good to see some of that stuff carry over to the game.

“Obviously, a lot of rookies on the field yesterday. A lot of them with things they’re going to learn from today and when we watch the film. But generally speaking, I think there was some progress.”

McDaniels also painted a rosy picture of the entire offensive line, which is a potential weak spot for Las Vegas. McDaniels said the unit was “headed in the right direction,” though there are still things they “can do better as a group.”

As for Munford, McDaniels was reserved in his answer, but at right tackle, progress is a good thing for any potential starter. The Raiders coaching staff seems confident it can teach any physically-talented lineman to block in their scheme. That was apparent when Las Vegas re-signed Parker, despite his struggles last season.

Munford played college football at perennial powerhouse Ohio State, so he clearly has talent.

But it was just one start during the preseason for Munford. The real answers will lie in the weeks ahead, as the Raiders have several important decisions to make about who will block for quarterback Derek Carr, wide receiver Davante Adams, and a host of other playmakers.

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Thayer Munford gets the start at right tackle for Raiders vs Vikings

Thayer Munford starting at RT for Raiders while Jermaine Eluemunor gets a shot at left tackle

After seeing his snaps increase in practice this week with the injury to Brandon Parker, rookie seventh round pick Thayer Munford got the start at right tackle for the Raiders in their second preseason game vs the Vikings Sunday.

It was becoming pretty clear that Munford was going to see a lot of snaps in this game, but the question was whether he would be the first on the field. That proved to be the case.

Meanwhile getting the start at left tackle was Jermaine Eluemunor who saw most of his snaps at right tackle in the Hall of Fame game last week.

Parker had started at left tackle in the preseason opener and had a rough go of it to say the least. While starting at right tackle was Alex Leatherwood and Eluemunor came in later.

The Raiders not only need to find someone to be their starting right tackle, but they are looking for a reserve swing tackle as well. Should Munford and Eluemunor play well at their respective positions in this one, they could make a strong case to fill those two roles.