5 players the Chicago Bears should add after rosters cut to 53 players

Players the Chicago Bears Must Consider Adding: Alex Leatherwood, OL

Now, I was one of the biggest haters of Alex Leatherwood coming into the 2021 NFL Draft. I did not see him as a tackle and I genuinely laughed when I saw his name come up for the Las Vegas Raiders selecting him in the first round. On the other hand though, I still thought I saw some flashes of Leatherwood to be a solid guard of the future.

Leatherwood is a big, beefy, athletic lineman. Leatherwood posted an incredible 9.68 RAS (relative athletic score) at offensive tackle and a 9.97 RAS at offensive guard according to Kent Lee Platte on Twitter. He backed this up with the pedigree of being a three-year starter at Alabama where he won the Outland Trophy in 2020 which is given to the nation’s top interior lineman.

Leatherwood is not a tackle, and he showed that in 2021 in which he was penalized 14 times and gave up 8 sacks. He was horrible, plain and simple. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve a second chance. Getting Leatherwood behind Cody Whitehair (a former offensive tackle-turned-guard prospect) to develop and clean up his game with a team that prides itself on discipline could be great for Leatherwood. Best case scenario: we see Leatherwood and Teven Jenkins manning the guard positions for the next 10 years.