The Raiders have taken criticism for drafting Alabama left tackle Alex Leatherwood with the 17th-overall pick, but not long after the draft there was a report that said the Baltimore Ravens, among others, were taking a hard look Leatherwood in the first round (Baltimore owned picks 27 and 31).
Another report said that the Raiders had pre-draft intel that the Ravens were targeting Leatherwood.
But according to NBC Sports’ Peter King, the Raiders’ “intel” on the Ravens’ interest in Leatherwood was not accurate.
“I’d say this in response to the Raiders’ belief that the Ravens were laying in wait for tackle Alex Leatherwood to get past mid-first-round so Baltimore could pick the Alabama tackle late in round one: My belief is the Ravens had a round-three grade on Leatherwood. So they’d never have considered him late in the first,” King wrote on Monday in his Football Morning in America column.
We may never know what the Ravens really thought of Leatherwood, but it’s fairly standard for teams to try to squash information that doesn’t flatter their draft results. That’s almost certainly why the Raiders’ leaked their information on the Ravens’ draft board… and why the Ravens aren’t going to sit back and let other teams and their own fans believe they missed on their guy.
Going back to Jon Gruden’s first pick with the Raiders in 2018, the media narrative has been that the Raiders tend to draft players too high. Most draft pundits hated the Kolton Miller pick (which turned out to be a great pick), but the selections of Clelin Ferrell, Johnathan Abram, and Damon Arnette haven’t done much to silence the naysayers.
If all goes as planned for the Raiders, Leatherwood’s career trajectory will follow a similar course as Miller’s. If nothing else, Leatherwood is landing in the perfect spot to succeed. Rookie and free agent offensive linemen have found a lot of success under Gruden and offensive line coach Tom Cable. So regardless of where they drafted him, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see Leatherwood develop into one of the better offensive tackles in the league.
twitter: @raidersbeat
So he was taken in the first round and may turn out to be great. What if they waited until the third round to draft him and he ends up stinking? Does all this matter? Since opinions matter so much I say get rid of all the draft prognosticators and let the coaches choose and the players play!
No ****, really and if you believed they were interested in him I have an island I want to sell you for some trinkets too‼️😏🙄🤬Obviously the only one interested in him in the 1st two rounds was Moron Mayock, he needs to be given his walking papers with extreme prejudice and like Big Al he shouldn’t be paid “for cause”…intentionally sabotaging team with overvalued talent, if I were in that morons presence, I’d punch him in the face ‼️🤬🤬🤬🤬
I am stunned that Peter King could actually write an article where he’s not totally trying to trash the Raiders in some way! Holy sh_t! What a miracle!
Peter King needs to get a life. The draft is over and Leatherwood has been discussed numerous times.
King has worse insider information than either of my dogs. He is a conspiracy theorist anti-Raider through and through. This is a stupid argument. Who gives a Rat’s? It REALLY doesn’t matter, the Raiders got their top TWO players that they wanted in the draft – it doesn’t matter if it was Leatherwood then Moehrig OR Moehrig then Leatherwood.
The draft has been over for weeks now so who cares. If the raiders like him that’s all that counts. There were also reports that 2 other teams wanted him. 2 weeks before the draft Lincoln Kennedy broke down 3 players the raiders should target in the first round and low and behold one of them was guess…..Alex Leatherwood. The raiders filled a need with a player that played 40 college games not just a handful like the others and won the outlander award. I don’t know why everyone is making a big deal about this pick. The raiders liked him so the raiders grabbed him. We will see if he works out. I think he will!
Well at least Leatherwood is No JaBustus Russell..
First off F Peter king….my comment is a little off subject..I’ve been reading articles and have heard on the radio pundits talking about grudens record since he has returned to the RAIDERS which is 19-29 . While that is true it is a completely disingenuous argument to make about gruden. In 2018 he realized the only way to build his vision was to tear it all down and rebuild from scratch. So he traded kalil mack 3 days before the season started and later realized amari cooper wasn’t motivated to be a raider and traded him also. He then got rid of guys who were playing with no heart like Bruce Irvin and decided to throw rookies into the fire..the team ended up 4-12 on the season . …so to count that record when making an argument about grudens performance then your argument is probably bullshit….F pundits who hate on us….go RAIDERS
Leatherwood is an Absolute Monster.Whether he was picked at #17 or #70 is irrelevant;he’s destined for Stardom at the next level.
Like the vast majority of people who follow the NFL I’ve been critical of Mayocks ability to assess talent properly,that being said I think He knocked it out of the park with this Class and by Seasons end he’ll be Lauded for his foresight when pundits and fans alike see how integral the rookies were en route to the teams 11-6 record and subsequent Playoff Birth.