Las Vegas Raiders offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood (70) is shown during practice at the Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center in Henderson Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021.
Thursday, June 9, 2022 | 2 a.m.
For the second straight year, the player who drew the most scrutiny during the Raiders’ first two-week period of organized team activities was the same. Offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood continues to be put under a microscope heading into his second NFL season.
As a first-round draft pick—No. 17 overall in 2021—the 6-foot-6, 312-pound guard/tackle out of Alabama would inherently become the main attraction while practicing with the team for the first time in late May last year.
But a disappointing rookie season left him in the same spot again during 2022’s string of voluntary sessions leading up to mandatory minicamp from June 7-9 at the team’s Henderson headquarters. The situation he finds himself in up front for the Raiders doesn’t help, either.
Las Vegas spent the offseason overhauling, or at least making over, most of its position groups under the direction of new general manager Dave Ziegler and new coach Josh McDaniels. The one exception might have been the area it was most expected to address—the offensive line.
Blocking was the Raiders’ biggest weakness a year ago, and instead of searching for a fix by bringing in a number of new players, they’re banking on improvement from the same core. Ziegler did ultimately draft a pair of offensive linemen in Memphis guard Dylan Parham (third round) and Ohio State tackle Thayer Munford (seventh round), but they’re both expected to be more long-term projects than immediate difference-makers.
That leaves the onus on last year’s returners to progress, starting with Leatherwood. He must come close to reaching the potential that made him a first-round pick if the Raiders hope to be at their best.
The first step will be settling into a position. He played last season’s first six games at right tackle before getting shifted to right guard.
McDaniels has been noncommittal about where he plans to use Leatherwood this year. Leatherwood was spotted at tackle during portions of practice sessions open to the media, but McDaniels said not to look into the placement too much.
“Ultimately, we’re going to try to figure out who the best five are that can give us the best chance of success every play,” the coach said during a news conference after a May 26 practice. “He’s certainly working his butt off right now to try to give us the right stuff wherever we put him. Today, it so happened, it was more right tackle.”
There’s also a possibility that Leatherwood gets left out of the starting lineup altogether, if McDaniels trusts middling veterans like Jermaine Eluemunor and Brandon Parker more or decides Parham is ready ahead of schedule. Benching a recent first-round pick, however, is not ideal for any team, even if that player was selected by a different regime.
It’s more likely that Leatherwood, barring injury, will be on the field for 97% of snaps as he was in his rookie season. The Raiders will either reap the benefits of staying patient with him or deal with the consequences of his continued struggles, at least early in the season.
Here’s an argument for each scenario playing out.
Leatherwood will break out.
If McDaniels needs an example of why he should stick with an offensive lineman after a down debut season, he only needs to look to the other side of his own line.
Before Leatherwood, the Raiders used a first-round pick (No. 15 overall in 2018) on left tackle Kolton Miller, and the UCLA product’s rookie season didn’t go according to plan. But he has improved every year since, culminating with last season, when his protection on quarterback Derek Carr’s blindside was the Raiders’ only redeeming quality up front.
The Raiders consider it a slight that Miller didn’t earn a Pro Bowl berth in either of the past two seasons, and they might be right.
Miller has been a mentor for Leatherwood and routinely speaks highly of him, which is important to note. Leatherwood doesn’t seem to fit with the theme of some first-round picks who never pan out due to diminished motivation after signing multimillion-dollar deals.
Teammates and coaches have consistently praised Leatherwood’s intellect and work ethic, the latter of which he has reportedly tapped into over the past six months by getting into better shape since the end of last season.
“Alex looks like he’s leaned out,” Miller said after one OTA practice. “He looks good in the weight room. On the field, his feet look real nice. I’m excited for him.”
Leatherwood will go down as a bust.
It’s kind of unfair to Miller to place his rookie season next to Leatherwood’s.
Miller played poorly in 2018, but by every metric, Leatherwood was much worse in 2021. The latter rated as the worst starting tackle in the league early in the season by Pro Football Focus’ player grades before moving to guard.
The company line was that Leatherwood got better playing in the less-demanding interior of the line, and PFF’s grades agreed slightly, since Leatherwood improved to become … the third-worst guard in
the league.
And it’s not as if he fell short in just one or two areas. Leatherwood looked outmatched in every facet, ranking fourth in the regular season in amassing 11 penalties, including a few in high-leverage situations that cost the Raiders dearly. He might have been much better in college as a three-year starter and one-time All-American at Alabama, but he wouldn’t be the first Crimson Tide lineman to underwhelm professionally.
At Alabama, Leatherwood was surrounded by so much blue-chip talent that he wasn’t tested as much as comparable prospects, and teammates made up for his mistakes.
For the Raiders’ sake, that needs to flip this season. Leatherwood needs to raise the level of play for those around him, and with the way his first season went, that’s a big ask.
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
