If you could re-do the 2021 NFL Draft, the Raiders would likely be very happy about that. They selected Alex Leatherwood at No. 17, hoping he would solve their problems at right tackle.
Instead, they were forced to move Leatherwood inside to right guard after just a few weeks. Leatherwood continued to struggle there but did improve marginally as the season went along.
In a recent article by ESPN’s 32 beat writers, they redrafted the first two rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft. Leatherwood did not go in the first two rounds and the Raiders selected USC offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker at No. 17. Here is a snippet of Paul Gutierrez’s thoughts on the new selection:
“Hindsight being 20/20, why not, then, take a guy who was one of the top two rookie guards in the league in Vera-Tucker, a player who the Raiders were high on initially anyway but was gone by the time they came up on the clock?
Vera-Tucker has been named to all-rookie teams while Leatherwood, who does have a high ceiling, finished tied for third among all offensive linemen in penalties.”
Vera-Tucker played guard for the Jets this season and did it at a much higher level than Leatherwood. While he wouldn’t have improved their right tackle need, he’s just a better offensive lineman and that’s the reason he was selected higher in the actual draft (No. 14).
The good news for the Raiders is that two of their other selections (Trevon Moehrig, Nate Hobbs) both went much higher in this redraft than they did in the actual draft. Those two players have transformed the secondary for the Raiders and they got both of them outside of the top 40 picks.
The hope is that with a full offseason, Leatherwood can make big improvements now that he is a full-time guard. He does have the size, length and power to win there as we saw in the second half of the season. If Leatherwood can improve ala Kolton Miller in Year 2, this could be one very productive draft class for the Raiders.
