The Bears Think They Can Fix Alex Leatherwood
I made my thoughts pretty clear on draft day when the Raiders decided to pick Alex Leatherwood with the 17th overall pick a year ago. With a new regime in place, the Raiders did a cleanse and got rid of a ton of the misses from the Mayock/Gruden era.
Chicago quickly claimed Leatherwood off waivers following his release. Apparently, they were the only NFL team to put that waiver claim in. Given the status of the Bears offensive line, I’m not sure you can blame them. However, if you ask Bears general manager Ryan Poles, he believes Chicago can fix the former Alabama standout.
“I think the big thing is going back, talented player, physically gifted for sure,” Poles said of Leatherwood on Thursday. “Prototype in his size and movement. And then in terms of like success with him here, I think we all believe in player development here, and we’ve put pieces in place to allow players to be their best selves. So, we’re going to approach that in many different ways, and we’re going to give him an opportunity to develop and grow. Forget the draft pick thing. That’s over.
“So, let’s start from the ground floor. Let’s build you up and take your time and whatever that is, we want to put him in the best position to succeed. Chris Morgan and his staff and everyone around, from the weight room, we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”
Can we trust Poles here? Maybe, maybe not. If you want to take a pessimistic approach, he was dumb enough to take a flier on N’Keal Harry and we know that bum can’t play. Poles is taking these shots because he knows his team blows and needs all the help he can get. It’s painfully obvious.
On the flip side, it’s way too early to give up on Leatherwood. I had Leatherwood as a late second / early third round pick that could become a capable starter at guard. The tackle thing was never going to work. Expecting Leatherwood to be the 17th-best player in the 2021 NFL Draft was never going to work.
Hey, what if the Teven Jenkins / Alex Leatherwood guard tandem works? That would be a godsend for Chicago right now. Say what you want about the Bears but Justin Fields has real talent. If Leatherwood fills a guard spot and plays to an adequate level, this was worth the risk.
There is just no guarantee that will happen. The Alex Leatherwood we have seen thus far in his brief NFL career is a total mess.
