For the past month or so, the Raiders have seen steady improvement from Alex Leatherwood at right guard. While he hasn’t been a dominant player, he’s cut back on his mistakes and limited the number of pressures allowed in the passing game.
However, he took a step backward in Week 13 as he allowed three pressures against Washington. While it wasn’t the worst game of the season for him by any means, he’s certainly played better recently.
So where does Leatherwood stand after 12 games? In a recent article by Pro Football Focus, they discussed Leatherwood and his performance this season. Here is what the site had to say about the first-round pick:
“Leatherwood has been remarkably consistent throughout his rookie season. While was little more than disastrous early at right tackle, he has been notably better since moving in at right guard, but not enough to actually avoid being a weak link along the line. Against Washington, he allowed three pressures from 45 pass-blocking snaps and earned a 64.6 run-blocking grade. At some stage, the team will want to see clear signs of improvement.”
Leatherwood has certainly been more comfortable at guard, but it’ll be interesting to see if they leave him there in 2022 or if they try to move him back to right tackle. With how much better he’s looked at guard, it feels likely he will stay there for a while.
