It’s certainly been an up-and-down season for rookie Alex Leatherwood. In his first two starts, he was dreadful at right tackle and nearly cost the Raiders multiple wins. The team has since moved him to right guard, where he has played better.
However, he’s still managed to struggle as a pass blocker at right guard. But to his credit, he had improved each week and has proved to be a good run blocker.
Thursday was his best game of the season as Leatherwood only allowed two pressures against the Cowboys. According to Pro Football Focus, it was his highest-graded game of the season. Here is what the site had to say about the No. 17 pick in the 2021 NFL draft:
“Leatherwood had arguably his best NFL game on Thanksgiving against Dallas and by far the best performance he has posted in terms of pass protection. He allowed just two pressures on 49 pass-blocking snaps and earned an 82.5 PFF grade in that area — the first time this season he has been above 65.0.
Leatherwood, who has been better after switching to guard, has struggled overall in his rookie campaign, but this was the first game that showed he’s moving in the right direction and provided legitimate optimism for the future.”
Leatherwood still has a long way to go before he lives up to his first-round status. However, he has shown a lot of improvement over the last month as he is settling in at guard.
While the Raiders were hoping that he would solve their right tackle spot, that just hasn’t been the case. But he has been slowly getting better at right guard, which has helped the run game. Things are starting to look up for Leatherwood and the offensive line for the Raiders.
