Raiders Bounce-Back Candidate: Alex Leatherwood
The Las Vegas Raiders have done the work necessary this off-season to say that their group of skill position players is among the best in the NFL.
There have been plenty of teams that can say they "won" the off-season, but followed it up with major disappointment once they got on the field.
Not to say it will happen to the Raiders, but there are still important areas they need to address as they continue to go through the off-season.
One of those would be the team's offensive line, which so far has seen little change from a unit last year that went through a number of struggles.
No one player-defined that better than lineman Alex Leatherwood, the Raiders' 2021 first-round pick from Alabama.
Originally starting the season at right tackle, Leatherwood's performance, or lack thereof, eventually led to him being moved to guard after four games.
While he performed slightly better on the interior, Leatherwood still graded out as one of the worst O-linemen in the NFL.
Leatherwood finished with a lowly Pro Football Focus grade of 45.5, fueled by being called for 14 penalties and giving up eight sacks during the season.
It's not out of the ordinary to see first-round picks struggle early, although what Leatherwood endured in 2021 was certainly enough to raise doubt about what his future could be in the NFL.
It should be encouraging for Raiders fans then that Leatherwood seems to be putting the work in at OTAs.
Leatherwood's versatility has been able to help with that, as Coach Josh McDaniels and the team have been making sure to try him out at multiple spots.
“Yeah, we've been moving him (Leatherwood) around a little bit,” McDaniels said after OTAs.
“Ultimately, we're going to try to figure out who the best five are that can give us the best chance of success every play,” McDaniels said. “And he's certainly working his butt off right now to try to give us the right stuff wherever we put him.”
It's just the kind of attitude that Leatherwood needs to have to prove to a new coaching staff that he does have what it takes to be a legitimate starter.
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