Raiders Do It Again, Reach For Alex Leatherwood At 17th Overall

The Las Vegas Raiders have taken unexpected routes in the last few drafts and 2021 wasn’t any different. They’ve used first-round picks on players they could’ve drafted in later rounds. Even though there were plenty of players worthy of the 17th overall pick, they went with Alabama offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood.

The Raiders are revamping their offensive line, so it wasn’t surprising to see them investing a first-round pick in the unit. What was shocking was the fact they took Leatherwood. Other than Penei Sewell and Rashawn Slater, who were already off the board, Las Vegas had their fair share of offensive tackles to pick from. They could’ve gone with Christian Darrishaw or Teven Jenkins, two of the top three prospects. Instead, they chose the Alabama product.

Keep in mind that Leatherwood himself is a fine player. However, the Raiders could’ve been taken him in the second round. This isn’t a bad pick because of who Las Vegas took, but rather when they chose him. You could ask ten different analysts and none of them had the offensive tackle ranked that high, and there aren’t any reports other teams were targeting him. You could basically say Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock outsmarted themselves.