The Raiders got their future Right Tackle. Some might say they reached, but others say he wouldn’t have made it past the first round:
Regardless of your view, Leatherwood is going to start for the Raiders, and Gruden expects him to come in and compete:
“Well, he’s very smart, very athletic, he’s long. He’s a talented player, that’s why we took him. We had him ranked high on our board. We’re glad he fell to us. We were glad he was there for us. Smart guy, very athletic. He has a lot of experience. We’re counting on him being our starting right tackle.”
Gruden is on to something. Alex Leatherwood is a smart athletic football player. One who excels in run blocking. If he and Denzelle Good are able to click together on the right side of the line, the Raiders running game will be special.
The only concern with Leatherwood right now is his pass blocking.
Last year alone, PFF had him ranked as 60 of 181 OTs in college football when it came to pass blocking. He also gave up 3 sacks, which is a lot for a college player. However, If there is 1 thing Jon Gruden does well, it minimizes the flaws of his players, and I believe Leatherwood will be no different.
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