The Raiders kicked off OTAs this week and arguably the biggest storylines of the first few days involved the offensive line.
Rookie offensive tackle/guard Trey Zuhn seems be in play to start at three positions along the offensive line and Spencer Burford might have an early leg up on Jackson Powers-Johnson and Caleb Rogers to start at one of the guard spots.
Burford signed a one-year deal with the Raiders in the offseason and is entering his fifth NFL season. But he’s a relative unknown to Raider fans.
Even members of the media are trying to figure out what Burford brings to the table this year, and the former fourth-round pick made a unique impression on at least one media observer at Wednesday’s OTA session.
Silver & Black Sports Network’s Jesse Merrick was a guest on the Raiders’ flagship radio station on Thursday, and said Burford’s athleticism stood out among his peers.
“We’re at the stage right now where we’re just now seeing the team out there with our own eyes and getting used to who’s in what numbers and everything. On one of the running plays, and I forget what number he is off the top of my head, but I remember thinking like, ‘Whoa, wait, who was that guy?'” Merrick said on Raider Nation Radio’s JT the Brick Show.
“He was moving for a big dude, and I looked him up, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s the new offensive lineman, Burford, they signed.'”
“So he caught my eye just in terms of the way that he’s moving, which we all know is massive in this scheme, you know? His movement skills stood out to me. I understand who Tyler Linderbaum is and all this stuff and I hope no one takes this the wrong way. Burford caught my eye because of that movement more than any other offensive lineman in that particular moment and stretch of plays.”
“The athleticism jumps off the page to me and I don’t think it should be a massive shock that he’s slotted in right now. Let’s say May 21st as like a quote unquote starter, if you will, because he’s got familiarity in this offense, with this staff, all those different things. And outside of that, it’s young guys and Caleb Rogers that needs to prove who he is to this staff.”
Message from inside the building seem to be that expectations are high for Burford among the coaching staff.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter was the first to say he thought Burford would be in the starting lineup this year, and the California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore added to that sentiment on Thursday.
“They started the session, if you want to talk about the starting five that first went out there, Spencer Burford was at one of the guard spots,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate. “Doing some digging around, there’s a real expectation inside the building that he’s probably going to claim one of the starting jobs at guard. So what does that mean for Jackson Powers-Johnson? What does that mean for Caleb Rogers?”
“Why Spencer Burford? There’s a couple of reasons why he’s looked at pretty favorably within the Raiders. Number one, he’s only 25 years old. He’s started on a Super Bowl team with the 49ers… but he also has plenty of experience playing in this offense. I think that’s one of the big keys to all of this is that he comes from the offense that Klint Kubiak is running up there in San Francisco… and that included a year where Klint Kubiak was one of the key offensive assistants with the 49ers. So there’s familiarity there. There’s experience, a lot of starting experience, he’s also just 25 years old and he has plenty of playing time in this particular offense.”
“I thought right off the bat, for me, that those two developments, Zuhn playing right tackle and Spencer Burford being one of the starters and could be in line to be one of the starters, jumped out.”
x: @raidersbeat