Raiders GM Tom Telesco was reportedly planning to draft a right tackle if Brock Bowers had not fallen to pick 13, but the consolation prize for passing on Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga seems to be working out well for the Raiders.
Offensive tackle D.J. Glaze was the 77th player taken in the draft and was probably the most criticized pick Telesco made in his first year with the Raiders.
As it turns out, Glaze has been a little better than advertised, and reportedly held up against one of NFL’s best pass rushers in training camp.
As a result, it sounds like Glaze might have an outside opportunity to win the starting job at right tackle.
“Thayer] Munford had a stranglehold on the starting right tackle job until the first padded practice of training camp on July 30,” The Athletic’s Tashan Reed reported on Friday. “He hurt his hand and had to leave the field for a lengthy period, which thrust Glaze in with the first-team offense. Glaze wasn’t perfect, but he more than held his own.”
“While Munford has since shaken off his injury, Glaze has gradually earned more first-string snaps,” Reed continued. “Although Munford still has an edge on the rookie, the role appears to be far from locked up. Munford and Glaze should play against the Vikings. If Glaze outperforms Munford, things could start to get really interesting.”
The storyline around Glaze has been a good one to this point, but the situation around the Raiders second-round pick in this year’s draft has not been quite as encouraging.
Jackson Powers-Johnson was supposed to be a plug-in starter at guard but missed all of training camp with a mysterious injury and still doesn’t have a timetable for return. It seems like there might be a few missing details to his absence that the team has not advertised to this point, but that’s just speculation for now.
x: @raidersbeat