The Las Vegas Raiders selected Alex Leatherwood in the first round and some consider him a reach but he is a smart pick that fits a need.
The Las Vegas Raiders have had a checkered history of picking in the first round for the better part of two decades, but for this article’s sake, and for our sanity, we will just focus on the Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock era. They are known for taking players that are talented but likely would have been there in the next round.
Alex Leatherwood is considered by many as the latest example of this but there are others.
In 2020, they “reached” for Damon Arnette at pick 19 when many had a 2nd or 3rd round grade on him, and used the 4th overall pick on Clelin Ferrell when more talented defensive ends were available. 2018 was Kolton Miller at 15, and we’ll stop there, as that was Jon Gruden’s first draft of this current era.
Miller has developed into a franchise LT, Ferrell has become a solid DE, but has not lived up to his selection, and Arnette slogged through a difficult rookie season, so the jury is still out.
It may be unfair to lump Alex Leatherwood into this group, but many evaluators had him as a late first or early second-round pick. Mel Kiper of ESPN had him as a second-rounder, as did Matt Miller, while The Athletic’s Dane Brugler gave him a 1-2 round grade.
Safe to say that they did not expect him to be chosen at 17 ahead of players like Christian Darrisaw and Teven Jenkins, who went to Minnesota at 23, and was not picked in the first round, respectively.
So what was it about Leatherwood that made the Raiders want to use the 17th pick on him when so many evaluators had him going in the second round. Let’s dive in.