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.
+1 Poles had limited resources this first season. He's done quite a lot with what he had to work with. These final additions seem to be fairly low risk high reward moves. This is the season to do that. The team isn't on the cusp of anything great this first season. Why not take a few of these flyers, right?
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.
As I said, the greater cost above the $6 million is the opportunity cost of him filling up a roster spot that could have been used to put any number of guys who are better than him. For example, WR Johnson, TE Howard, and even Daryl Williams if you want to add another competent, versatile offensive lineman.
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.
That's exactly how I see it. You explained it better than I did.
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.
As I said, the greater cost above the $6 million is the opportunity cost of him filling up a roster spot that could have been used to put any number of guys who are better than him. For example, WR Johnson, TE Howard, and even Daryl Williams if you want to add another competent, versatile offensive lineman.
My guess is that Poles is trying to add players who might become longer term pieces rather than those who are "for right now". Bears aren't competitive right now and no player they added now would change that. 2022 is about putting in a foundation to build upon and of course seeing Fields take a year 2 jump.
As I said, the greater cost above the $6 million is the opportunity cost of him filling up a roster spot that could have been used to put any number of guys who are better than him. For example, WR Johnson, TE Howard, and even Daryl Williams if you want to add another competent, versatile offensive lineman.
My guess is that Poles is trying to add players who might become longer term pieces rather than those who are "for right now". Bears aren't competitive right now and no player they added now would change that. 2022 is about putting in a foundation to build upon and of course seeing Fields take a year 2 jump.
+1 It's all about 2023 and beyond. If even 1 or 2 of these guys pan out for that, then Poles has added an important piece or two. Poles is clear about playing "the long game" and not doing band aid fixes. He's doing it with limited resources this year. This is what you get. I'm okay with that.
As I said, the greater cost above the $6 million is the opportunity cost of him filling up a roster spot that could have been used to put any number of guys who are better than him. For example, WR Johnson, TE Howard, and even Daryl Williams if you want to add another competent, versatile offensive lineman.
My guess is that Poles is trying to add players who might become longer term pieces rather than those who are "for right now". Bears aren't competitive right now and no player they added now would change that. 2022 is about putting in a foundation to build upon and of course seeing Fields take a year 2 jump.
There were plenty of guys under age 30 to claim, but few who have had the playing time as Leatherwood and played so horribly last year and preseason this year. He ranked pff in the bottom 3 of 82 guards! His pass blocking grade was 31. I looked it up. I realize that nobody here agrees with me, but 31 GMs do! The Bears were the ONLY team to submit a claim on him.
My guess is that Poles is trying to add players who might become longer term pieces rather than those who are "for right now". Bears aren't competitive right now and no player they added now would change that. 2022 is about putting in a foundation to build upon and of course seeing Fields take a year 2 jump.
There were plenty of guys under age 30 to claim, but few who have had the playing time as Leatherwood and played so horribly last year and preseason this year. He ranked pff in the bottom 3 of 82 guards! His pass blocking grade was 31. I looked it up. I realize that nobody here agrees with me, but 31 GMs do! The Bears were the ONLY team to submit a claim on him.
I think we all agree he's been awful. I just don't think its as big a deal as you're making it out to be. Perhaps a different offensive scheme would be better for him, and I know you think Cable is a good coach, but he isn't...so maybe our coaches can get more out of him. Or maybe they can't and he gets cut next year. Either way I'll take the shot on a guy with traits who was a first round pick(over drafted or not) over a UDFA or late round guy...so I'm not going to lose any sleep on Joe Thomas or Zach Thompson or whoever not making the squad.
There were plenty of guys under age 30 to claim, but few who have had the playing time as Leatherwood and played so horribly last year and preseason this year. He ranked pff in the bottom 3 of 82 guards! His pass blocking grade was 31. I looked it up. I realize that nobody here agrees with me, but 31 GMs do! The Bears were the ONLY team to submit a claim on him.
I think we all agree he's been awful. I just don't think its as big a deal as you're making it out to be. Perhaps a different offensive scheme would be better for him, and I know you think Cable is a good coach, but he isn't...so maybe our coaches can get more out of him. Or maybe they can't and he gets cut next year. Either way I'll take the shot on a guy with traits who was a first round pick(over drafted or not) over a UDFA or late round guy...so I'm not going to lose any sleep on Joe Thomas or Zach Thompson or whoever not making the squad.
I’m not going to get too stressed about Leatherwood if they cut him at the end of this season. I don’t want to see a failed experiment dragged out two more years out of stubbornness or because he’s “cheap”.
Raiders at least had enough sense to cut their losses.
My guess is that Poles is trying to add players who might become longer term pieces rather than those who are "for right now". Bears aren't competitive right now and no player they added now would change that. 2022 is about putting in a foundation to build upon and of course seeing Fields take a year 2 jump.
There were plenty of guys under age 30 to claim, but few who have had the playing time as Leatherwood and played so horribly last year and preseason this year. He ranked pff in the bottom 3 of 82 guards! His pass blocking grade was 31. I looked it up. I realize that nobody here agrees with me, but 31 GMs do! The Bears were the ONLY team to submit a claim on him.
This is a good video that shows his issues (he really did suck last year). Forget his draft position. He was overdrafted. He was never a good fit for the Raiders because he was a known project and not a guy who should have been starting last year. He is a project. He is going to have to work hard to improve his technique. But he has the raw physical skill set to be special. The Bears are not drafting him to start this year. They see him as an investment for developing this season for 2023 and beyond. If the Bears truly feel they can fix his fundamental flaws and have a special starting OL for 2023, then that is a good waiver claim - if they truly can fix him and he truly does have a high ceiling.
1. He should not have been drafted that high. 2. He sucked last year as a rookie. 3. He has serious technique flaws. 4. He has off-the-charts physical skills that could give him an elite NFL ceiling if he can fix his technique flaws. Not saying he WILL fix them. But if the Bears truly believe he is fixable then I understand why the Bears signed him.
Claiming a guy like this off of waivers is a gamble, but it seems like a low-risk, high-reward move.
There were plenty of guys under age 30 to claim, but few who have had the playing time as Leatherwood and played so horribly last year and preseason this year. He ranked pff in the bottom 3 of 82 guards! His pass blocking grade was 31. I looked it up. I realize that nobody here agrees with me, but 31 GMs do! The Bears were the ONLY team to submit a claim on him.
I think we all agree he's been awful. I just don't think its as big a deal as you're making it out to be. Perhaps a different offensive scheme would be better for him, and I know you think Cable is a good coach, but he isn't...so maybe our coaches can get more out of him. Or maybe they can't and he gets cut next year. Either way I'll take the shot on a guy with traits who was a first round pick(over drafted or not) over a UDFA or late round guy...so I'm not going to lose any sleep on Joe Thomas or Zach Thompson or whoever not making the squad.
^^ This. That's all I am saying. AL is a lottery ticket which may pan out or may not. I think he's worth a shot.
And BTW, the Raiders regime (GM & coaches) SUCKED HARD. They made awful picks repeatedly and failed to develop players repeatedly (with 2 extra FRP picks from the Mack trade)--they were awful and got canned with years left on their contracts. Leatherwood may prove to a true bust or maybe he could benefit from a different coach/scheme/change of scenery--time will tell. In the meantime, lets give our current regime a chance and not fret over the short term horizon. Bears aren't contenders this year anyway. It's a sifting out year to see who belongs and who doesn't. Worst case scenario here is that they cut him after the season and take a $2.6m cap hit. Please don't tell me you were gonna find a "good OL" for that price at this point.
The guy is a BACKUP right now, not a starter, and he either sinks or swims in practices.