Las Vegas Raiders: 2021 Draft class mid-season Report Card
By Nico Di Fede
Las Vegas Raiders: 2021 Draft class mid-season Report Card
Round 1, Pick 17: Alex Leatherwood, OT/OG
The Las Vegas Raiders surprised most with the selection of Alex Leatherwood out of Alabama at pick number 17. The now-guard was intended to play right tackle, but after early struggles, was bumped inside starting week 5. Since then he has seen improvement.
Thus far Leatherwood has allowed 5 sacks and has committed 10 penalties. This has resulted in him holding a 39.1 grade per PFF.
As the stats suggest, Leatherwood has not performed up to par in the pass-blocking department, but since being moved to the right-guard spot he has been solid as a run-blocker, that being the offensive line’s overall weak point.
Despite this, Leatherwood continues to struggle against the pass rush, giving up 6 pressures in the week-9 loss against the New York Giants alone, and yet that was his best game of the year.
It isn’t the fault of Leatherwood that he was over-drafted, which is why I grade both the performance of the player regardless of draft position and the pick itself separately.
Obviously, the fact that he was drafted to be a tackle, a high-value position, and has already been moved inside, a lower value position, makes the pick seem like a fail so far. However, the offensive line was looked at as a weak point coming into the season, so if he can continue to improve at the guard spot it will be one less spot needing to be addressed in the future.
- Performance Grade: D
- Pick Grade: D