Raiders: Denzelle Good retires, who’s the next man up in Las Vegas?

Raiders: Denzelle Good retires, who’s the next man up in Las Vegas?

Alex Leatherwood

This is one of the options that make the most sense, if not the no.1 sensible option: Alex Leatherwood, who I fully expected to start at right tackle prior to Good’s retirement, moves to guard to fill the now vacant spot on the line.

This makes a lot of sense due to it giving the Raiders’ coaching staff a good reason to start Brandon Parker, who the team shelled $3.5M to this offseason to stick around. The salary here is significant, because it makes Parker the 18th-highest paid right tackle leaguewide. You don’t make a player you plan on stashing away the 18th-highest paid at their position.

In this situation, Kolton Miller remains the left tackle and Andre James remains the center. Leatherwood plays one of the guards, effectively allowing Parker to slide to the right tackle position. The last guard spot is still a mystery; It could be Parham, or it could even still be Cotton if the staff feels Parham isn’t ready, which hasn’t been the case to this point.

You take Good out, and put Parker in; Take advantage of Leatherwood’s ability to play multiple positions.

Leatherwood’s versatility makes him a valuable asset here, and Josh McDaniels is well aware of that. For this reason, McDaniels has never committed to playing Leatherwood at one specific position on the offensive line, but instead is allowing the dominos to fall where they will.

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Much of Raider Nation would likely embrace this lineup, as Leatherwood had his best stints playing guard, as opposed to tackle. That said, there’s no real reason the 23-year-old shouldn’t be able to take the experience he gained at guard to any position on the line.