The Las Vegas Raiders desperately needed a starting right tackle, and in their eyes, Alex Leatherwood was the best one they could get. However, will they regret passing up the chance to take Christian Darrisaw in the 2021 NFL Draft?
Leatherwood’s selection will be scrutinized and overanalyzed in the coming years, much like his new teammate Kolton Miller was. Three years from now, the Raiders could have a Pro Bowler at right tackle for all we know. After all, he will be under the guidance of one of the best offensive line coaches, Tom Cable. Nevertheless, it appeared by all accounts that Darrisaw was the more polished and NFL-ready prospect that wasn’t named Penei Sewell. Will the Raiders’ brain trust regret not taking the Virginia Tech product?
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Should the Raiders have taken Darrisaw?
Leatherwood’s strength coming into the NFL appears to be in run blocking. Last year, he posted an 85.4-grade last year, per Pro Football Focus. As far as a right tackle, he only played 12 snaps back in 2018. He proved his worth playing on the left side the last two seasons, but before that, he totaled 922 snaps at right guard.
Darrisaw played his entire collegiate career at left tackle, save for one 2019 snap at left guard. Clearly, he comes into the NFL with more natural experience as well as a more balanced repertoire. Per PFF, Darrisaw notched a 94.5 run-blocking grade along with 90.8 in the pass-blocking department. It would appear that the Raiders opted for versatility in choosing Leatherwood and this was the theme previously in the offseason.
The organization parted ways with Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson, opting to bring back swing offensive lineman Denzelle Good and adding, of course, drafting Leatherwood. If the Raiders end up having a dominant offensive line as they’ve fielded in recent years, all will be forgiven in terms of bypassing Darrisaw.
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*Top Photo: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apparently others passed on Darrisaw as well. He went at 23
Apparently, others passed on Darrisaw as well, he went at 23.
I don’t believe Darisaw was even a consideration for Right Tackle. Jenkins would have been a better choice. Compare Jenkins to Leatherwood if you want to make a better argument.
No. The Raiders will not regret passing on Darrisaw. Leatherwood was Tom Cables pick. It was who he wanted, bar none. And, Mayock, Gruden, and Cable all agreed on why he needed to be the guy for their system, and what they are building. Mayock described at length. Attitude, tools, system, etc. I’m so flipping tired of the same issues being batted around because of talking heads and prognosticators. Cable is the best position coach the Raiders have. Bottom line up front. Cable says Leatherwood. Get him Leatherwood. In my opinion this was a darned good draft across the board. Leatherwood to Morrissey.
That it? You ask if a team could regret selecting one player over another supported only by a PFF run grade? Son, this is a minimum wage article. There is so much more than went into this selection. You mentioned Darrisaw is a left tackle and still it didn’t occur to you the Raiders were in the market for a right tackle? We have a very good left tackle named Kolton Miller who was evaluated by Tom Cable. Articles about future regrets were written about the selection of Kolton Miller back then- were you one of them? Leatherwood is the Outland award winner. He started 41 games, was elected team captain, has no injury history, great football character and a RAS athlete score that’s ranked 17 at this position out of 1109 prospects counted since 1987. Hope this helps.
Wow, imagine that, another half assed, low rent, contrived “article” by Mario Tovar… Do you even do any REAL research, or do you just post every random un-founded illogical opinion that comes across your feeble little mind?? I mean you constantly act like you know more than Mayock does, which is completely ridiculous, or you’d be the Raiders’ GM, not Mayock. So, you called one or two good players, anybody can do that, Mayock has done that a thousand times over, let go of your ego, and your Raiders fan badge already…You’re a joke of a reporter, and you saying you’re a Raider fan is extremely laughable at best… The bottom line? The draft is a complete gamble, so you might as well go after the players you like the most that fit your system. “Rankings”, and “draft value” are completely based on subjective opinions, and therefore anything based off of them is also a subjective opinion, it’s not rocket science here… Every single year, there are players who were subjectively valued much higher than they should have been, and players who were subjectively valued much lower than they should have been. Finally, Mayock spent nearly 20 years doing nothing, but evaluating draft talent, and you expect me to believe that some random “reporter” on some random internet sports blog knows more than he does??? 🤣🤣🤣
Yes Darisaw was better pick