Battle Continues For Eluemunor, Munford at Right Tackle
One of the Las Vegas Raiders' primary position battles this training camp is on the offensive line.
While the club could very well display the same starters up front as last year, second-year Raider Thayer Munford is doing all he can to take over the starting right tackle spot, which belonged to veteran offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor last season.
The tackles exchanged reps in Sunday's preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, an experience that was valuable to each of them.
"Yeah, both of them did some good things," Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels said when he addressed the media in a virtual press conference Monday. "I thought both of them were challenged. Like I said, this is a really good front, so they got a decent chunk during the week and then each of them had a handful of drives yesterday in the game, too.
"So, some good, some positive, and then a few things that I think our entire tackle group can learn from relative to playing that style of defense. So, I'm pleased with the way they're going about it, they're competing hard. I think they're making one another better, that whole group, and I look forward to seeing the challenges that we're going to see this week too."
Eluemunor made a career-best 17 starts last season in what was his second as a Raider.
The veteran has also had stints with the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M.
Munford, on the other hand, has only one NFL season under his belt, having made four starts in his rookie campaign.
The young lineman was selected by Las Vegas in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Ohio State.
Regardless of who comes out on top in this position battle, one of them will be a valuable backup, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them get added to the mix if some spots up front are shuffled around.
The Silver and Black return to preseason action when they play the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT.
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