Peter Skoronski Scouting Report and NFL Draft Profile
Peter Skoronski Scouting Report
2023 NFL Draft Measurables
Peter Skoronski 40 Yard Dash Time: 5.20 (estimate)
Size: 6’4″ / 315 lbs.
Peter Skoronski NFL Draft Profile
Peter Skoronski is a former 5-star recruit out of Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. According to 247sports, Skoronski played center in high school where he had an incredible career. Coming out of high school, he was the number one center in the nation. On top of that, he was the number one player coming out of Illinois in the class of 2020. This was enough to draw the attention of eight power five schools nationwide. Some of these schools include Wisconsin, Iowa, Notre Dame, and Northwestern. After only visiting Notre Dame and Northwestern, he made the decision to stay in Illinois and make a name for himself. Of course, it wasn’t hard to make a name for himself because his grandfather was successful as well.
His grandfather is Bob Skoronski who has many career highlights in the NFL. Bob was a 5x NFL Champion, 2x Super Bowl Champion, Pro Bowler, and Hall of Famer for the Green Bay Packers.
Strengths
Hand Placement
When watching his film, the one part of his game that stood out the most was his hand placement. Peter Skoronski does a good job of using his hand placement to neutralize any opposing defender. When a defender is rushing towards the outside, Skoronski places his hand on the defender’s outside bicep. Then, he places his other hand on the inside pectoral and drives them vertically. This contains the defender to the center of Skoronski’s body which allows him to stand them up on their heels. He also does a good job of this when the defender is rushing the B gap. But in this case, he places his hand on the inside bicep and his other hand on the outside pectoral. These are both very effective when pass blocking, but when run blocking, he has a different game plan.
When run blocking, he places both of his hands on the breastplate of the defender. He then keeps his center of gravity low and drags them wherever he wants them to be. Skoronski’s knowledge of blocking angles is very helpful here. If there is a play designed for the B gap, Skoronski can force the defender towards the outside. This puts Skoronski’s back towards the runner giving them a wide-open lane
Quickness
Another aspect of Skoronski’s game that was very impressive was his quickness. When watching his film, I was impressed with his quickness directly off the snap in both 2 and 3-point stances. When lined up in a 2-point stance, Skoronski does a great job of instantly gaining leverage on the defender. He does this by displaying his tremendous foot speed and lateral agility. Having this quickness out of a 2-point stance allows him to be an effective pass protector. Right when the ball is snapped, he can get the defender to go where he wants him. He can do this by keeping his inside leverage or kicking back further forcing them inside. When lined up in a 3-point stance, he has great explosiveness and aggressiveness to engage in contact before the defender. This allows him to use his quick and powerful lower body to force the defender out of the way.
Pass Protection
As I briefly mentioned earlier, Skoronski is an elite pass-blocker, especially out of a 2-point stance. He has good upper and lower body strength which allows him to be effective against both speed and power rushers. When lined up against speed rushers, he prioritizes his hand placement more than anything. He puts his hand on the outside bicep and other hand on the opposite pectoral. This allows him to not only slow down these rushers, but he is also often able to contain them. Meanwhile, when lined up against power rushers, he does a good job of dropping the anchor while driving them upward. If Skoronski can get his hands on the breastplate of the defender against the bull rush, it’s over. Once he drops the anchor and gets his hands in the right spot, then there is only one place to go… up. He uses his long arms and strong lower body to drive the defender upward, forcing them on their heels.
Drive Blocking
Although Skoronski is an elite pass protector, don’t overlook his run blocking. Howevver, I am going to primarily discuss his effectiveness when drive blocking. Drive blocking is essentially when offensive linemen keep their back parallel to the ground and drive forward. When doing this, the goal is to attack the hip of the defender forcing them out of the way quickly. As I mentioned earlier, Skoronski has good quickness off the snap which allows him to quickly gain leverage. Not only is he quick off the snap, but he is also aggressive. When he is driving forward, he’s not looking to force the defender off balance, he wants to knock them over. Having an offensive lineman who is aggressive when run blocking is essential to having an effective run game.
Weaknesses
2nd Level Blocking
After watching his film, it was difficult to find significant weaknesses in his game. But, after watching countless hours of film, his biggest weakness is blocking in the 2nd level. I mentioned earlier that he is good at blocking speed rushers at the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately, that is not the case when in the open field. If a linebacker or defensive back slips his block, he struggles to regain control. This is primarily because his ability to change direction isn’t as good as the defender’s.
Pull Blocking
Although Skoronski played center in high school, his pull blocking has some improving to do. His biggest weakness is when he is pulling for an outside run to the right. This is a weakness because he does not have very good acceleration to get set before the play is developed. Also, as I mentioned earlier, he is not very good at blocking in the open field. I think this is because he needs to improve his mental processing skills when in the 2nd level. I’m not saying that he is clueless in the 2nd level, he just needs to visualize the field better. If he is able to improve upon his mental processing and acceleration, he could be a great pull blocker. But as of right now, he is not quite there.
Peter Skoronski 2023 NFL Draft Stock
Skoronski is a very impressive offensive lineman. In my opinion, he is the best one in this draft. If the draft were to start today, I would feel comfortable taking him in the top 15. Although he has some stuff to improve, it is not much, and definitely not enough to pass on him.
Final Thoughts on Peter Skoronski Scouting Report
Skoronski is easily the most polished offensive lineman in this draft class. He has incredible technique, quickness, and power which allows him to neutralize almost any defender. I think that he would best work for a pass-heavy team where he can play to his strengths. But, if he works on improving his pull blocking and 2nd level blocking, he will fit any scheme.
Player Comparison
His play style and strengths remind me of a rookie tackle out of Central Michigan, Bernhard Raimann.
Peter Skoronski Scouting Report Analyst – Matthew Lewis
