Here’s the fifth story of our position-by-position NFL draft series. Today, we’ll look at the top offensive linemen.
Peter Skoronski was a two-time All-Big Ten selection as an offensive lineman at Northwestern and was an All-America selection after the 2022 season.
Oh, and his grandfather won five NFL championships as an offensive tackle.
But as Skoronski is preparing for the upcoming NFL draft (April 27-29), it appears that some teams might want him to switch positions. Why? Because he has short arms?
He’s 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, but his arm length of 32 ¼ inches has apparently raised some eyebrows among NFL types. Alabama’s Evan Neal (34 inches) and Charles Cross of Mississippi State (34 1/2 inches) were the top two offensive linemen selected in the 2022 draft.
Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr. and Georgia’s Broderick Jones are considered the top tackles along with Skoronski in the draft. Johnson’s arm length is 36 1/8 inches and Jones checks in at 34 ¾.
“Teams have been pretty open about that,” Skoronski said. “No one has really sat me down and said, ‘No, you can’t play tackle for us.’ Teams have just kinda asked me where I see myself. I said that I’m a tackle, I play tackle, but am more than willing to play anywhere.”
Skoronski knows the business of the NFL. His grandfather Bob was a star on Vince Lombardi’s dominant Green Bay teams of the 1960s. So he’s open to a possible position change, but also knows that measurables aren’t everything.
“Arm length number doesn’t really determine a great player or a great blocker,” Skoronski said. “It’s pretty irrelevant. I think some of my issues that have been chalked up to arm length are really just technical things I can work on and try to fix. I’m not really concerned about that. From what I gather, a lot of teams really aren’t either.”
Skoronski plans to win his blocks with his feet, not his arms.
“That’s always been my philosophy,” Skoronski said. “Continuing to work on things like punch-timing and hand-placement have been huge things for me to sort of alleviate that sort of issue, which is something I have to work on for sure. At the end of the day there’s nothing I can do about my arm length.”
His grandfather, a member of the Green Bay Packers hall of fame who died in 2018, has always been an inspiration for Skoronski.
“He’s sort of been my football mentor ever since I was born,” Skoronski said. “I just always have looked up to him and wanted to follow in his footsteps. This is a dream continuing in his legacy.”
AJC’S 2023 POSITION-BY-POSITION DRAFT SERIES
WIDE RECEIVERS – Past few drafts have spoiled NFL teams looking for wide receivers | Top 10 WRs
RUNNING BACKS – Running backs Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs may have to wait to hear their names called | Top 10 RBs
TIGHT ENDS – Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer heads a dee TE class | Top 10 TEs
QUARTERBACKS – Bryce Young’s small stature no longer an issue in the NFL | Top 10 QBs
OFFENSIVE LINE – Monday
DEFENSIVE LINE – Tuesday
LINEBACKERS – Wednesday
CORNERBACKS – Thursday
SAFETIES – Friday
SPECIAL TEAMS – Saturday
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