The Raiders made a few notable investments in their offensive line in the offseason, and one of the new faces that seems to have the inside track on a starting job is 25-year-old Spencer Burford, who the team signed in the offseason.
Burford has familiarity with head coach Klint Kubiak from their season together in San Francisco and based on OTA sessions in the last week (at least the few sessions with media access), Burford is unofficially at the top of the depth chart at left guard.
Last week, Silver & Black Sports Network’s Jesse Merrick said Burford’s athleticism stood out at practices and former Raiders O-lineman Marshall Newhouse added to Merrick’s comments on Wednesday.
Newhouse sees Burford as the early favorite to start at left guard and thinks the former 49er may have ramped up his conditioning in the offseason.
“He is a guy who is comfortable in this scheme, and I think is a good fit for this scheme. I think people look at him at first glance, and I think even I did a little bit, you see his size and he feels more like a power guard, a power run guard. But he’s got a lot of athleticism… I think his athleticism is a little underrated,” Newhouse said of Burford on the Just Win podcast.
“I think people who were seeing him there in person are remarking how well he’s moving. So maybe he just took it upon himself to shed some weight, make himself a better mover this offseason. But it definitely sounds like he’s got the leg up on the left guard position. I think familiarity with the scheme helps a lot and just being a veteran who’s played some snaps. And so you take that into account.”
It’s too early to form strong opinions, but for now it looks like the young interior linemen on the roster will have to jump ahead of Burford to earn a starting job.
In Thursday’s media session at OTA, The Athletic’s Sam Warren said Burford was again at left guard but added that third-round pick Trey Zuhn III was also getting reps at right guard.
The versatile Zuhn is expected to move around the offensive line this year, and it will be interesting to see if he will be able to make a strong enough impression at any position to push for a starting job.
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