Bears hope former 1st-round pick Alex Leatherwood can still fulfill potential
Alex Leatherwood hopped on a late-night flight and landed in Chicago around midnight. Some 12 hours later he was on the practice field at Halas Hall on Thursday.
The Bears claimed Leatherwood off waivers Wednesday, about 24 hours after the Las Vegas Raiders released the former first-round draft pick. Just 14 months ago, the Raiders selected Leatherwood with the 17th overall pick.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles said he told Leatherwood to forget the high draft status and all the expectations that came with it. The Bears, spearheaded largely by offensive line coach Chris Morgan, plan to develop Leatherwood the right way. That means if he's a project and he takes a while, so be it.
Leatherwood played right tackle during his first practice Thursday, donning No. 72 on his jersey.
“They were excited to have me here,” Leatherwood said. “It's a new opportunity. And, yeah, I'm excited.”
Leatherwood declined to say much about his experience in Las Vegas. The Raiders drafted him when Jon Gruden was in charge. The team hired new GM Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels over the offseason and they brought in their own ideas.
A year ago, Leatherwood started the first several games of the season at right tackle for the Raiders, but moved to right guard after about a month.
He won two national championships at Alabama and was the 2020 Outland Trophy winner as the best interior lineman, offensive or defensive, in the country. Leatherwood played multiple positions during his Alabama career, but spent 2019 and 2020 at left tackle.
The knock on him with the Raiders was that he struggled in pass blocking. Morgan and head coach Matt Eberflus will have to coach him up in that aspect of his game.
“Don't ever give up on a guy,” Eberflus said Wednesday. “Keep the door open for him and keep teaching him. Keep coaching him. Keep teaching him. Keep believing in him. And that's what we're here to do. We're here to encourage the guys along the way. There's a lot of adversity in football. We're here to challenge them.”
Leatherwood adds an interesting wrinkle to an offensive line that has appeared set in the last two preseason games. After juggling multiple players along the line at various positions, the combination of Braxton Jones at left tackle, Cody Whitehair at left guard, Sam Mustipher at center, Teven Jenkins at right guard and Larry Borom at right tackle has started in each of the last two preseason games.
Leatherwood probably isn't going to come in and start right away. But the Bears can afford to play the long game with him. Claiming him on waivers means they claimed is original rookie contract, which includes three more seasons and a team option for 2025.
“In terms of success with him here, I think we all believe in player development here,” Poles said. “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.”
Poles, in his first year, is taking a measured approach to building his roster. The Bears have shed salary and reshaped the roster drastically. With waiver wire additions Wednesday, the Bears now have 15 rookies on the 53-man roster.
Asked again Thursday about not giving quarterback Justin Fields the proper weapons, Poles gave a little more insight into his approach to roster construction.
“I've never gotten away from: We have to try and build the entire roster,” Poles said. “I'm not going to overreach and do things crazy to get a name or anything. Our approach has been consistent from the draft all the way through. We're going to continue to add talent all around.”
Leatherwood certainly fits that bill. The Bears didn't have to give up anything to get him, and they believe he has untapped potential.