It’s almost time for one of the biggest weeks of the NFL draft process.
Former Ohio State offensive tackle Thayer Munford will be among more than 300 NFL prospects in Indianapolis next week for the NFL Scouting Combine. After weeks of training in Texas with offensive line developer Duke Manyweather in Frisco, Texas, Munford will arrive in Indianapolis on Tuesday to start his week at the combine, where he’ll go through a medical evaluation and interviews with NFL teams from Tuesday through Thursday before participating in on-field workouts on Friday.
As Munford wrapped up his preparations for the combine, he checked in with Eleven Warriors for the second installment of Thayer Munford’s NFL Draft Diary.
The buildup to this year’s NFL Scouting Combine hasn’t come without drama, as NFL agents representing more than 150 players reportedly threatened a boycott of the combine due to concerns about the event’s COVID-19 protocols. The combine will proceed forward as scheduled after those protocols were adjusted, but the uncertainty has created stress for participants like Munford, who still wasn’t sure when he spoke to Eleven Warriors on Tuesday whether he would be able to have his full team of trainers in attendance.
Nevertheless, Munford is excited for the opportunity to participate in the combine. He won’t do the bench press until Ohio State’s pro day – a decision he made because the bench press and on-field workouts for each position group at the combine will now be held on the same day, a change from previous years, when the bench press was held the day before on-field workouts – but is planning to do on-field drills.
“It's very exciting to actually be a part of the NFL combine, to actually meet with the teams, actually talk with teams, to actually show people that I’m more than a third-round draft pick,” Munford said. “It’s been kind of mentally frustrating because you’re trying to figure out like, ‘Alright, is my team gonna be there?’ or ‘Is the whole training staff coming?’ or what. But I've just been looking at it, praying to God that they can get stuff figured out. I just don't really agree with them putting the bench press with the on-field work because you gotta go from the bench to on-field work, and that takes a lot out of you too, so it’s mentally frustrating.
“I'm gonna save some stuff for pro day, because I just don't want to take the risk of getting injured, and if I’m already tired, I don’t want to mess up and get injured during some drills that the NFL teams got us going through. I’m planning on the on-field stuff but not doing bench press until pro day.”
Aside from the drama surrounding the combine protocols and schedule changes, Munford says his preparation for the combine has been going great. While he says this week has been a recovery week so he can be as fresh and healthy as possible for his combine workout, he believes his training over the past couple of months has made him faster and stronger than ever before.
“They’ve been on us really hard, trying to make sure everything’s getting done correctly, making sure everything's almost perfect. Everything’s not gonna be perfect of course, but they want to get it perfect as best as possible for us so we can put our athletic abilities on the field.
“I for sure feel like I’ve gotten faster and stronger. And it’s because I feel mentally better than I was a couple months ago, especially during the season. And plus, my body feels a little better too. It feels a lot better.”
After doing everything with a team-first approach during his five years at Ohio State, Munford says the NFL draft process has required a change in mindset, as it’s been all about doing what’s best for himself. While he recognizes that football is a business now that he’s a professional, he is looking forward to being back on a team again once he’s drafted.
“It’s just being self-motivated a lot more. You’ve got people there (that he’s training with), but also at the same time, people there are also trying to get their draft stock up and everything else up, as well. So they’re trying to make sure they do their part as well. It's not a team, it's just more individual. So you gotta make sure you do what's right for you. Which kind of sucks because you want to do what's best for your team, but also at the same time, I'm entering the world of you gotta do what's best for yourself.
“It's hard, because I still want to do what’s best for the team, I still do. But also I gotta make sure I’m doing what’s best for myself, too. Any team I go to, of course, I just want to make sure that I give them my all and they give me their all too, because I love football. I’m a competitor. I like to compete. I hate losing. It’s just something that I have to get used to, because right now, it’s just a business.”
Munford says preparing for the combine has been a learning process, as he’s prepared for all the different offensive line drills and measurable tests like the 40-yard dash and vertical jump that he’ll do next week in Indianapolis. But while his focus for the past several weeks has been primarily on putting his best foot forward at the combine, he’s also tried not to lose sight of his long-term goal, which is to be a great offensive lineman for whatever team drafts him.
“It's kind of like your first day of college basically, just trying to figure out what's what and actually how to do things right. Because you already got a good understanding of how to do stuff but actually how to do it right. You can see all the film, you can see all the formations being drawn up, you can see how to block it, but being able to put that onto the field and actually do it for your own self.
“But I personally want to make sure that I’m good for the team that actually gets me. The 40s and all is great, it shows how fast you are or how strong you are of course, but I also want to show the teams how I am as a player and also as a person.
“I sometimes just take the time out of my day to actually imagine that I’m going against one of the best pass-rushers in the league like Von Miller, T.J. Watt, Chase Young of course, Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa, going against those guys and making sure that I'm going to be that person to actually hold them down. Everybody (in the league) is great, those players are great that I just mentioned, everybody’s great. But also at the same time, I gotta have that mentality, like ’Alright, I gotta make sure he doesn’t get to my quarterback.’”
Thayer Munford went up against elite pass-rushers like Chase Young and Nick Bosa in practice throughout his Ohio State career, and now he’s preparing to face them in the NFL.
Most mock drafts currently project Munford to be a third- or fourth-round pick, and he acknowledges that some of the criticism he’s seen about his game from draft analysts has bothered him. He says he’s learned how to block that out, but he’s nonetheless motivated to make his case that he should be an early-round pick – which he believes he can do at the combine not only with his on-field workouts, but also through his interviews with NFL teams, where he wants to show them just how much he cares about being great.
“How I feel like I do that is basically going to these meetings with the NFL teams and try to give them the best side of me as possible. Not just the football side of me, but give them the best side of me as Thayer Munford. Not just Thayer Munford the football player or Thayer Munford from The Ohio State University, Thayer Munford the person that actually loves what he does.
“I want them to see that I am a person that's not gonna shy away from adversity. I'm a person that actually loves to help out teammates as best as possible, help out the team as best as possible, too. And want to also win us a Super Bowl, as well. As an offensive lineman, I gotta make sure that our QB doesn't get hit either.”
Although he hasn’t talked too much with former Ohio State players about what to expect at the combine, keeping his focus on his own preparation, he says he has gotten advice from some of his former teammates who went through the NFL draft process last year, like Wyatt Davis and Josh Myers, about what to expect from his interviews with teams.
“They basically told me they’re going to ask you a lot of questions about how you are personally. They might teach you their offensive playbook right there and just see how you interpret certain information and put it right back out, then actually teach it again to them to see what you learned. So there’s a lot of information that I’ve learned, but all I got to do now is put it on display on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.”
As Ohio State’s draft prospects have been training at different facilities around the country, Munford said he hasn’t had many recent opportunities to talk with the other Buckeyes in the 2022 draft class, with the exception of Haskell Garrett, who he says is “doing great.” That said, he’s excited to catch up with the Buckeyes’ other combine invitees – Nicholas Petit-Frere, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jeremy Ruckert and Tyreke Smith – when they’re all in Indianapolis next week.
“Oh yeah, I can’t wait to see them. Just seeing how they are, see how they’re doing, just seeing how their process is going to be. So it’s pretty nice to just have that.”
