I don't really get the Leatherwood claim whatsoever...but I'll defer again to Poles and Cunningham who played o-line. There is an article on the Athletic I need to finish reading which discusses Leatherwoods technical flaws and whether they can be fixed or not. For what its worth, I don't think Cable, who was the o-line coach with Gruden is a good coach, so that didn't help Leatherwood at all.
I like the Arman Watts claim a lot though. Will help the interior DL a lot.
I read that article. Two guys were outplaying him in training camp, and one of them was a 7th round pick. As the article states, his technical flaws are numerous. I can’t blame this all on Cable. The new DC didn’t have any more success. And Alabama, of course, is one of the best college programs in the country, so I’m sure they also tried to teach him technique. So I’m putting most of the blame on Leatherwood himself. Maybe he’s lazy or has a learning disability (One of my lawyer colleagues says, “There’s no cure for stupid.”)
One of the things we see about Poles is that he has a penchant for buying lottery tickets and reclamation projects. I am very skeptical about this one, though. I think the Poles master plan is to have Leatherwood replace Whitehair at LG next year. That would aid him in completing his passion to get rid of Pace recruits.
I don't really get the Leatherwood claim whatsoever...but I'll defer again to Poles and Cunningham who played o-line. There is an article on the Athletic I need to finish reading which discusses Leatherwoods technical flaws and whether they can be fixed or not. For what its worth, I don't think Cable, who was the o-line coach with Gruden is a good coach, so that didn't help Leatherwood at all.
I like the Arman Watts claim a lot though. Will help the interior DL a lot.
That was my initial reaction on Leatherwood, seemed like a big bust but saw Manyweather talking about predraft saying he needed two years to adjust and then his RAS score being very high like Jenkins. With all the cap space I'm okay with a reclamation project if Poles/Cunningham see something I'll be cautiously optimistic.
I like Weatherford and Watts from what I've read.
I would routinely grab Weatherford in the late rounds of mocks. Interesting player.
6'4" 230lb... Safety at Miami-Ohio. Has the straight-line speed and can back-pedal but can't hang out to the edges so considering his size, he projects to linebacker in the NFL.
I don't really get the Leatherwood claim whatsoever...but I'll defer again to Poles and Cunningham who played o-line. There is an article on the Athletic I need to finish reading which discusses Leatherwoods technical flaws and whether they can be fixed or not. For what its worth, I don't think Cable, who was the o-line coach with Gruden is a good coach, so that didn't help Leatherwood at all.
I like the Arman Watts claim a lot though. Will help the interior DL a lot.
I read that article. Two guys were outplaying him in training camp, and one of them was a 7th round pick. As the article states, his technical flaws are numerous. I can’t blame this all on Cable. The new DC didn’t have any more success. And Alabama, of course, is one of the best college programs in the country, so I’m sure they also tried to teach him technique. So I’m putting most of the blame on Leatherwood himself. Maybe he’s lazy or has a learning disability (One of my lawyer colleagues says, “There’s no cure for stupid.”)
One of the things we see about Poles is that he has a penchant for buying lottery tickets and reclamation projects. I am very skeptical about this one, though. I think the Poles master plan is to have Leatherwood replace Whitehair at LG next year. That would aid him in completing his passion to get rid of Pace recruits.
That could be...I hadn't thought of that, a replacement for Whitehair next year. Poles likes explosive dudes, and Leatherwood is that, but like you I'm not holding out hope he can be fixed.
I don't think it's just Poles that likes reclamation projects. I'm willing to argue that almost every GM has a list of guys they like, and if they get waived, they get claimed.
I remember some talking-head gushing over a team (Raiders or Browns maybe) and listing all the first-round picks they had on the roster. Most of them were guys who failed on their first, second, and even third team before getting claimed again.
5.9 mil (dead cap) for a guy you think your OL coach can turn into a starter isn't a bad bet. Next season it's 4.6 mil (dead cap) and if it doesn't work, he had a 0 dead cap for year 3. Why not take a look?
I read that article. Two guys were outplaying him in training camp, and one of them was a 7th round pick. As the article states, his technical flaws are numerous. I can’t blame this all on Cable. The new DC didn’t have any more success. And Alabama, of course, is one of the best college programs in the country, so I’m sure they also tried to teach him technique. So I’m putting most of the blame on Leatherwood himself. Maybe he’s lazy or has a learning disability (One of my lawyer colleagues says, “There’s no cure for stupid.”)
One of the things we see about Poles is that he has a penchant for buying lottery tickets and reclamation projects. I am very skeptical about this one, though. I think the Poles master plan is to have Leatherwood replace Whitehair at LG next year. That would aid him in completing his passion to get rid of Pace recruits.
That could be...I hadn't thought of that, a replacement for Whitehair next year. Poles likes explosive dudes, and Leatherwood is that, but like you I'm not holding out hope he can be fixed.
I've had a day to think about this. I've read everything I could regarding the guy. Here are some things that stood out to me. First of all he excelled as an OL at the #1 school in the nation for offensive linemen (Alabama, who is nicknamed "Offensive Line U"). He played even as a true freshman (7 games). He matched up against the best D guys in the nation - he has 2 National Championships under his belt. At the Combine he scored a 9.86 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 17 out of 1109 OT from 1987 to 2021. He won the Outland Trophy as the #1 offensive lineman in the nation. He started at Alabama first as a RT, then the next year he became their starting LT.
He played 1 rookie season in the NFL and struggled. So the Raiders have waived him.
He is reported to have some issues with fundamentals that NFL defenders exploited during his rookie season. Eberflus in his pressor says the Bears have the coaches who can help Leatherwood clean this up. In one of the articles I read it mentioned (reminded me) that the #1 attribute Eberflus coveted in this coaching staff was the ability to teach - to connect with young players and help them learn and reach their ceilings.
Okay, I think about all of that information and it sure seems like this was a gamble signing Leatherwood - but certainly one worth taking. Players - especially offensive linemen - often need some development time to transition to the NFL game. This guy looks like one of those guys. Josh McDaniels pulled the plug on the guy pretty quickly here I think. My gut feeling is that while Leatherwood may have been overdrafted, he still has a ton of raw talent to work with. If the Bears end up with a solid starting OL here (even in 2023) then the ROI on this guy is worth taking a chance on. It actually looks like a good bet to me.
Post by Whisky Beer Bob on Sept 1, 2022 13:17:13 GMT -6
I don't know much about Leatherwood but I understand the risk vs reward and it is a good gamble that really does not hurt us.
Now we know Hoodie McDaniels has an ego and has a team that can strike gold now so he might feel like he has no time to teach an OL his job. He also might be trying to get rid of some of the "other guy" guy's if they show that they are not ready now.
Who knows really but why not. Worst case is he sucks. Best case he can be part of a real solid young OL core. Bonus points if he wakes up from his skill slumber and rox tha fack outta it.
I don't know much about Leatherwood but I understand the risk vs reward and it is a good gamble that really does not hurt us.
Now we know Hoodie McDaniels has an ego and has a team that can strike gold now so he might feel like he has no time to teach an OL his job. He also might be trying to get rid of some of the "other guy" guy's if they show that they are not ready now.
Who knows really but why not. Worst case is he sucks. Best case he can be part of a real solid young OL core. Bonus points if he wakes up from his skill slumber and rox tha fack outta it.
It’s not just the $6M he is costing. He’s taking up a roster spot that could be used better IMO. Did you know he rated dead LAST by Pff for guards with at least 1,000 snaps in 2021? Raiders tried to trade, but no team would trade a bag of peanuts for this guy. Six other teams had the chance to take him off waivers ahead of the Bears, and they all passed. Cable has been an offensive line coach in NFL for 16 years and has developed some good, young developmental linemen — but threw in the towel on Leatherwood. Unless/until he somehow shows he has learned the position, they should keep him off the field for Fields’ safety.
I don't know much about Leatherwood but I understand the risk vs reward and it is a good gamble that really does not hurt us.
Now we know Hoodie McDaniels has an ego and has a team that can strike gold now so he might feel like he has no time to teach an OL his job. He also might be trying to get rid of some of the "other guy" guy's if they show that they are not ready now.
Who knows really but why not. Worst case is he sucks. Best case he can be part of a real solid young OL core. Bonus points if he wakes up from his skill slumber and rox tha fack outta it.
It’s not just the $6M he is costing. He’s taking up a roster spot that could be used better IMO. Did you know he rated dead LAST by Pff for guards with at least 1,000 snaps in 2021? Raiders tried to trade, but no team would trade a bag of peanuts for this guy. Six other teams had the chance to take him off waivers ahead of the Bears, and they all passed. Cable has been an offensive line coach in NFL for 16 years and has developed some good, young developmental linemen — but threw in the towel on Leatherwood. Unless/until he somehow shows he has learned the position, they should keep him off the field for Fields’ safety.
Oh wells. No sense in getting all upset about it.
No matter what you say, I will still dream it will work. Heck my dream right now has Leatherwood as the MVP of the Superbowl!!
I sell roofing materials. I don't know jack shite what makes a good OL. I will trust the coaches to give him a go and see if they can shake something loose. If not, he gets released then another man up for a go. Me? I will go to work tomorrow and sell roofing mats, It's all I can do.
My mantra this year has been, "Let it go!" I am sick of stressing over shite that I have no control over.
I don't know much about Leatherwood but I understand the risk vs reward and it is a good gamble that really does not hurt us.
Now we know Hoodie McDaniels has an ego and has a team that can strike gold now so he might feel like he has no time to teach an OL his job. He also might be trying to get rid of some of the "other guy" guy's if they show that they are not ready now.
Who knows really but why not. Worst case is he sucks. Best case he can be part of a real solid young OL core. Bonus points if he wakes up from his skill slumber and rox tha fack outta it.
It’s not just the $6M he is costing. He’s taking up a roster spot that could be used better IMO. Did you know he rated dead LAST by Pff for guards with at least 1,000 snaps in 2021? Raiders tried to trade, but no team would trade a bag of peanuts for this guy. Six other teams had the chance to take him off waivers ahead of the Bears, and they all passed. Cable has been an offensive line coach in NFL for 16 years and has developed some good, young developmental linemen — but threw in the towel on Leatherwood. Unless/until he somehow shows he has learned the position, they should keep him off the field for Fields’ safety.
Here is a report from Greg Gabriel on WCG about the 6 players the Bears claimed yesterday:
First off, let's state the obvious--if you're claiming 6 players (now 7) off waivers, the most of any team in the league, it is a tacit admission that your roster isn't very strong. That shouldn't be a surprise to any fan following the team closely nor is it an indictment of Poles. He's doing a teardown/rebuild this year after the mess left by Pace/Nagy and didn't have much cap space or draft capital to work with. I for one am glad he's not trying to just "patch holes" and "win now" like the preceding regime did in 2020-2021.
Unless GG is FOS (and I think he's a solid talent evaluator), seems to me that Poles has churned the roster cheaply to try and get some extra new pieces in place for next season. Will all these guys become that? Probably not. Maybe only 1 or 2 will be. But he's trying and he didn't sacrifice any future draft picks to do it.
Leatherwood is the most controversial of them but even he isn't that costly if he flops. The Bears can walk away from him after this season for only a $2.6m dead cap hit and zero dead cap if they do so after the second year. Yeah, it's a lottery ticket. He was overdrafted clearly--prob was a 2nd/3rd round prospect--but he does have major talent and athleticism to work with. He's not gonna be a Week 1 starter anyway. He's a developmental backup until he proves otherwise in practices.
It’s not just the $6M he is costing. He’s taking up a roster spot that could be used better IMO. Did you know he rated dead LAST by Pff for guards with at least 1,000 snaps in 2021? Raiders tried to trade, but no team would trade a bag of peanuts for this guy. Six other teams had the chance to take him off waivers ahead of the Bears, and they all passed. Cable has been an offensive line coach in NFL for 16 years and has developed some good, young developmental linemen — but threw in the towel on Leatherwood. Unless/until he somehow shows he has learned the position, they should keep him off the field for Fields’ safety.
Oh wells. No sense in getting all upset about it.
No matter what you say, I will still dream it will work. Heck my dream right now has Leatherwood as the MVP of the Superbowl!!
I sell roofing materials. I don't know jack shite what makes a good OL. I will trust the coaches to give him a go and see if they can shake something loose. If not, he gets released then another man up for a go. Me? I will go to work tomorrow and sell roofing mats, It's all I can do.
My mantra this year has been, "Let it go!" I am sick of stressing over shite that I have no control over.