Raiders stay at No. 17 and reach for OL Alex Leatherwood

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While the Raiders may not have the fourth overall pick in this draft, their selection at No. 17 overall is giving a lot of people similar feelings to when they took Clelin Ferrell quite a bit higher than anyone had him rated. Or Damon Arnette for that matter.

This time they went with Alabama offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, who was rated pretty much across the board as a high second-round pick at best.

The Athletic’s consensus big board had Leatherwood at 44th while Grinding The Mocks expected draft position was 36.

Yes, the Raiders’ next pick was 48 overall, which means Leatherwood wasn’t expected to be on the board by the time they picked next, but since he was clearly their guy, a trade down in the first or a trade up in the second would have made more sense.

Leatherwood was a right guard as a sophomore and played left tackle the past two seasons for the Crimson Tide. But most see him as a guard at the pro level due in part to his 6-4 height and under 34-inch arms.

The Raiders’ biggest need is tackle, where the likes of Christian Darrisaw and Teven Jenkins were still on the board as well.

None of this is to say that Leatherwood won’t be good. He might be. After all, he was a first-team All-American at left tackle last season. He’s talented for sure. This is about how you work the draft and taking the ‘Best Player Available’. The Raiders talk every year about not reaching and then every year do it anyway.

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