The Way a Packers Forum Should Be
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Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski projects as a starting offensive lineman for just about every team in the NFL. The ultimate position he falls into will vary team by team, although this is a three-year starter in the Big Ten at left tackle who has plenty of tape to indicate he can fulfill that role if a team wishes to bestow it upon him. Skoronski is among the most refined offensive linemen in the 2023 NFL Draft and should be a plug-and-play starter.
Originally a 4-star recruit, Skoronski committed to Northwestern out of Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His grandfather, Bob, played for the Packers’ legendary head coach Vince Lombardi and was a captain on five NFL Championship teams in Green Bay. Meanwhile, Peter was a three-year letterman in both track & field and basketball during his high school days in addition to his football career. Skoronski received offers from powerhouse programs such as Michigan, Notre Dame, and Penn State in addition to scholar schools such as Duke, Stanford, and, of course, Northwestern. He put himself on the map immediately by stepping into Rashawn Slater’s role at left tackle as a true freshman during the 2020 COVID-shortened season; Slater opted out of the year and Skoronski assumed his role and never looked back.
Skoronski’s fundamentals immediately pop to you when you watch him play. He’s got very crisp hands and showcases a variety of pass sets to change the approach of opposing pass rushers. He’s shown the ability throughout the course of his career to take vertical sets and challenge speed or, alternatively, short-set rushers and force them to play through his frame. I’m impressed with Skoronski’s base and ability to stay tethered with a firm anchor in protection and when climbing vertically in the run game. I’m impressed with how fluid Skoronski’s foot adjustments are to avoid a static base that would break down his posture—he’s aware of the ramifications of a dead base and does well to stay dynamic in this regard.
In the run game, you do see effective vertical movement on double teams, particularly when charged with stepping down on inside-shaded defenders. His ability to collect and climb to the second level is effective. There have also been bright flashes of zone work as well, with him stringing out the point of attack horizontally to allow his back to cut off his hip. I appreciate some of the counter work Northwestern put on film to allow Skoronski to pull through the set and get vertical on linebackers on the second level, as well—he should project fairly well to both gap and power concepts as a result.
For all the good (and there’s a lot of it), there are some questions that ultimately will project him to different roles for different teams. I do think he’s more fluid than explosive at times, particularly in some of the 2022 contests I studied. Between that and his length, I think there are some disparities between his resume and numerous recent top-of-the-first-round offensive tackles. The Michigan game in 2021 showcased some struggles with wingspan and getting his hands attached, particularly on the speed rushes by OLB David Ojabo, who tested him with speed up the field. Some of his second-level angles were short when climbing to pick off backside flow at times—although to be fair to him, they were disadvantageous angles. Yet, for a player in the projected draft range in which Skoronski is currently forecasted, I would love to see him hit some of those landmarks with more consistency. Teams who deem him an interior talent may not covet him as high and that’ll impact his final stock—although he will have a home on every offensive line in the league somewhere.
Expectations for Skoronski will be the same even amid different positional forecasts—he should be a starter from day one. I do see some potential challenges to being a positive starter immediately, as he’ll either need to acclimate to setting against NFL-caliber linemen each and every week on the edge or he’ll be charged with re-calibrating as an interior lineman. But by year three of his rookie contract, expect to see a quality starter up front.
Top Reasons to Buy In:
High level of football IQ in all phases
Proficient hand usage and technique to sustain blocks
Position-versatile player who will clear tackle thresholds for some
Effective mover in all concepts in the run game
Top Reasons For Concern:
Functional athleticism to mirror on the edge is sufficient
Arm length and wingspan are untraditionally short
Potential transition to inside after three seasons of playing left tackle at Northwestern
Scheme Fit: Scheme versatile
Very cool. I think CB is a position people aren't talking about enough. Jaire is locked in. Rasul people are already moving to safety and isn't sticking around long. Nixon could be gone after this season. Stokes is an unknown on when he'll be ready to play. The rest is a crapshoot. Wouldn't surprise me at all if a trade up would be for Witherspoon or Gonzalez.BF004 wrote: ↑27 Apr 2023 13:36Hate to reference 'that forum', but this is pretty cool and might be helpful to have on hand during the draft.
https://forums.footballsfuture.com/topi ... ope-sheet/
Saw that too, was looking for that pick of him in a cheesehead when we was like 10 to share here, but couldn’t find it.YoHoChecko wrote: ↑27 Apr 2023 13:46I voted Skoronski because I'm high now (you're welcome, this will be better for us all) and NFL Network just did a feature on Skoronski's Green Bay roots.
I know CHTV is doing a stream on YouTube. I may tune into that.Scott4Pack wrote: ↑27 Apr 2023 14:57Best place to watch real time updates without watching the actual draft?
Is Milwaukee JS doing a live blog? Or Cheesehead TV?
I literally blew up some coffee, now my nose burns
never even crossed my mind. is there a lock on how many picks we can have in this exercise" every time I change my mind I vote, I have 3 favs so far, Skoronski, Njigba and Kincaid, I might be tempted to switch 5 more times before the draft startsYoHoChecko wrote: ↑27 Apr 2023 16:03All Draft coverage should have an alternate channel with programming for teams who aren't looking to get one of the top 3-5 QBs in the draft that year.
