Leatherwood Tries to Live Up to Other Tackles Picked No. 1 by Raiders
When the Las Vegas Raiders selected Alex Leatherwood of Alabama with the 17th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, it was the 10th time in their history that they have gone for an offensive tackle in the first round.
Even though some draft experts claimed it was a reach to select Leatherwood that high, Coach Jon Gruden immediately said Leatherwood would start at the right tackle, which means he believes the 6-5, 312-pound All-American will rank with the best of those other first-round tackles.
“Well, he’s very smart, very athletic, he’s long,” Gruden said the other day during the Raiders minicamp. “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.”
Added General Manager Mike Mayock: “He was the highest-rated player on our board at that time, offense or defense. ... Tom Cable, our offensive line coach, in all honesty, you’d have to ask Tom, but this might have been Tom’s favorite player in this entire class. I mean, Coach Cable has been all over him for months now since the first time he saw the tape. Coach Gruden loved this guy. Our scouts loved this guy.”
Leatherwood was a three-year starter at Alabama after also being an All-American at Booker T. Washington High in Pensacola, Fla., playing on two national championship teams, and showed his versatility by also starting at guard during his career with the Crimson Tide.
And, Leatherwood comes to the Raiders with a bit of an attitude after reading that some people thought he didn’t deserve to be chosen in the first round.
“It definitely put a chip on my shoulder,” said Leatherwood, who won the Outland Trophy as the best O-lineman in college football last season. “It bothered me a little bit, but at the same time, I’m not a media guy.
“I’m not the type of dude to get caught up in all that garbage, because I know what my film said about me and the GM and the coach, they know that as well. I’m just grateful that they watched that film and saw me as good enough to be the 17th overall pick. I’m more than excited to get to the program and prove them right.
“I’m happy and excited to be a Raider.”
Kolton Miller was the last tackle the Raiders selected in round one, in 2018, and he’s started at left tackle since he was a rookie, and has said he’s ready to be a mentor for Leatherwood and the other young lineman.
Before that, the Raiders selected such outstanding tackles in round one as Don Mosebar of USC in 1983, who played 13 seasons, was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and started in Super Bowl XVIII as a rookie; Henry Lawrence of Florida A&M in 1974, who was a two-time Pro Bowler and played in all three of the Raiders’ Super Bowl victories, and Harry Schuh of Memphis State in 1965, who was a two-time All-AFL selection, a 1970 All-Pro and started in Super Bowl II.
Leatherwood has been assigned the No. 70 that Lawrence, who also played right tackle, wore throughout his Raiders career.
Other solid picks were Robert Gallery of Iowa, who played seven years for the Silver and Black after being selected in 2004; Mo Collins of Florida, who was with the Raiders for six seasons after being drafted in 1998, and Curt Marsh of Washington, who had a seven-year career after being picked in 1981, even though he was hampered by injuries and had 20 surgeries—including having his right leg amputated below the knee in 1995.
Matt Stinchcomb was selected No. 1 by the Raiders out of Georgia in 1999 but was slowed by injuries from the beginning, while John Clay (1987, Missouri) played only one season with the Silver and Black, and John Rutgens of Illinois signed with the Washington Redskins rather than the Raiders in 1961 and was a two-time All-Pro.
Of course, the Raiders’ best tackle of all-time was Art Shell, selected in the third round out of Maryland State in 1968. Shell started in Raiders victories Super Bowl XI and XV, was a four-time All-Pro, an eight-time Pro Bowl selection, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Leatherwood has plenty to live up to, but Gruden, Mayock, and Cable obviously believe he has what it takes to be a Raider.
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