No position group was more of a problem for the Raiders last season than the offensive line. Their problems mostly surrounded rookie Alex Leatherwood. And it branched out from there.
To be fair, that’s not really Leatherwood’s fault. They drafted him too high and relied on him to be their savior at right tackle. That lasted four games before, they thought it might be in their best interest to move him inside to guard and bring in Brandon Parker at right tackle. The injury to right guard Denzelle Good likely played a hand in that as well.
Leatherwood wasn’t much better at guard, but at least it played more to his athleticism and it tends to be less destructive to make mistakes inside than it does when trying to keep edge rushers out of the backfield.
Now the Raiders and new head coach Josh McDaniels, have a decision to make. That is keep Leatherwood at guard, move him back to tackle, or bench him altogether, making the former 17th overall pick a utility reserve, at least in the short term.
“When you play in as many games as he did as a rookie. There’s good, there’s bad,” said McDaniels at the scouting combine Wednesday. “But when you’re that young, you look at it as what can we work with, what can we fix. There’s a lot to do in that process. I’ve already spoken to him and that process is underway. And I think what we end up doing is whatever’s best for the Raiders. He’s shown the ability to play in both spots. More guard last year than tackle, but we see him being a contributor, we see him as a guy that we’re really excited to work with. We’re going to try to get the most out of him.”
It seems McDaniels has yet to decide where Leatherwood will play. Which is probably wise. It allows you to see the entire field of guards and tackles in free agency and the draft. Then you wait to see who you’ve got around him and find the best guard and tackle for the job. If that doesn’t include your second-year former 17th overall pick, so be it. He can sit back and bide his time for his opportunity.
It’s also clear McDaniels knows that Leatherwood is not nearly ready based on his 2021 season. As he said, “there’s a lot to do in that process” which means Leatherwood will have to show marked improvement if McDaniels is to feel comfortable starting him at either position.
