Peter Skoronski

Draft Rumors: Commanders, Chargers, Giants, Bengals, Bears

April 26th, 2023 at 10:09pm CST by Ely Allen

It’s the eve of the 2023 NFL Draft, and connections are being made left and right. Every team has hosted several prospects and done their fair share of homework. Here’s a few things we’re hearing in the hours leading up to the draft:

The Commanders can go in a lot of directions at the exact midpoint of the first round. They’ve been connected to offensive tackle and cornerback prospects in most situations. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, though, Washington’s executive vice president of football/player personnel Marty Hurney is a big advocate for Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson. The team has committed to last year’s fifth-round pick Sam Howell as their starting quarterback for 2023, as well as bringing in Jacoby Brissett as an experienced backup. Drafting Richardson would likely be a sit-and-learn situation while either Howell or Brissett man the starting spot under center.
The Chargers have been rumored to be looking ahead in this year’s draft towards next year’s needs, according to Breer. Even though wide receiver is clearly not a need with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Josh Palmer, Williams may end up as a cap casualty after this season with a pending $32.46MM cap hit in 2024. This could lead to Los Angeles getting ahead of that hole and drafting a wideout in the first round this year. Breer hears the team really likes Boston College receiver Zay Flowers.
Another team who could possibly be looking to cover a future contract situation, the Giants are reportedly fairly high on Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs, according to Breer. With contract negotiations with veteran Saquon Barkley being reported as tenuous, it’s hard to imagine general manager Joe Schoen further stirring the pot with another first-round running back. It would provide the team with a backup option if negotiations with Barkley turn sour, though.
The Bengals ranked 29th in 2022 for team sacks and are reportedly looking for more pass rushing help on the interior defensive line, according to Breer. At the end of the first round, there’s only so many options. Georgia’s Jalen Carter surely won’t still be around at No. 28 overall. Clemson’s Bryan Bresee has some strong tools but is expected to need to improve his pass rushing arsenal. Pittsburgh’s Calijah Kancey is the only real answer here. With 14.5 sacks and 27.5 tackles for loss over the last two years, the diminutive tackle projects as a discount Aaron Donald. If Kancey isn’t available or not what the Bengals are looking for, they could trade back or just wait for someone like Auburn’s Colby Wooden in the third or fourth round.
Lastly, the Bears have been frequently tied to offensive line prospect Peter Skoronski out of Northwestern. It’s unclear whether they like Skoronski as an improvement at tackle or a new starter on the inside, but if he’s available by the time the tenth pick rolls around, it’s hard to imagine Chicago passing up the nearby offensive lineman.

Cardinals Continue To Explore Trade-Down Move, Eyeing First-Round O-Linemen

April 25th, 2023 at 4:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Even if the Texans follow through with a much-rumored effort to take a non-quarterback at No. 2 overall, one of the top two edge rushers — either Will Anderson Jr. or Tyree Wilson — would still be on the board for the Cardinals at 3. The team has front-seven holes, and mock drafts have often placed a top-flight edge prospect in this slot.

But the Cardinals continue to explore avenues to move down the board. Offensive line appears to be the top Cards concern heading into the draft, Todd McShay of ESPN.com notes. While a previous report indicated the Cardinals may be prepared to address this issue at No. 3 — by taking Ohio State tackle Paris Johnson — McShay adds the team is “borderline desperate” to move down.

Sliding down the board would seemingly better match Arizona with this year’s top O-linemen while providing the rebuilding team with additional assets. The Johnson rumors aside, McShay connects the team to having interest in Northwestern tackle/guard Peter Skoronski. The former Big Ten standout rates as Scouts Inc.’s No. 9 overall prospect, with Johnson sitting 12th. Kyler Murray has spoken highly of Johnson, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets, with SI.com’s Albert Breer also indicating the team is quite taken with the two-year Buckeyes starter. Johnson visited the Cardinals as well.

Though, some teams are believed to place a higher value on Johnson, who is projected to stay at tackle. Skoronski is viewed by many as a player who will make a Brandon Scherff-like transition by going early in the first round but being shifted from tackle to guard before his first NFL game. Teams are generally reluctant to draft a guard especially early, though the Scherff (No. 5, 2015) and Quenton Nelson (No. 6, 2018) choices panned out. The Cardinals’ connections to the Big Ten blockers may lead to the team setting a floor regarding how low it is willing to drop in a trade.

The Cardinals have their tackle tandem of the past three years — D.J. Humphries–Kelvin Beachum — under contract, though Humphries missed much of last season and Beachum is going into his age-34 campaign. The team did lose guard Justin Pugh to an ACL tear and has not re-signed him. Guard Will Hernandez did re-sign, however. It is worth wondering if the Cardinals taking an O-lineman in the top 10 would affect one of the veterans’ statuses.

The team, which has needed a cornerback since Patrick Peterson‘s 2021 free agency departure, is also interested in Devon Witherspoon, per Breer. With Witherspoon a candidate to go midway through the top 10, the Cardinals would need to take a measured approach with a trade-down effort. If the team cannot find a trade partner, Wilson may be in play. The team passed the Texas Tech edge rusher on a pre-draft physical, Breer adds.

A few teams have been mentioned as candidates to trade up for a quarterback. The Titans (No. 11), Falcons (No. 8) and Raiders (No. 7) are among them. The Cardinals are believed to have spoken with at least six teams about a potential trade. The Texans passing on C.J. Stroud — assuming the Panthers indeed take Bryce Young — would stand to help the Cardinals find a trade partner, and Will Levis‘ late rise may as well.

With a need at quarterback, the Texans have the more interesting decision to make Thursday. The Cardinals having Murray lowers the stakes for their pick, but new GM Monti Ossenfort may have a complex process to navigate during his first draft night.

Draft Rumors: Skoronski, Young, Robinson

April 20th, 2023 at 10:06pm CST by Ely Allen

We spoke a bit about Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski‘s size when he declared for the draft back in April, thinking that while some may question his lack of size as a tackle, he would still follow his former college teammate Rashawn Slater in remaining at the tackle position. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, that’s no longer the case.

Breer says that, while he too initially thought a few teams would write Skoronski off as a guard, he’s finding that, now, few teams see him at tackle. At the NFL scouting combine, Skoronski measured at 6-foot-4, 313 pounds with an arm length of 32.25 inches. Comparatively, Slater measured at 6-foot-4, 304 pounds with an arm length of 33 inches in 2021.

Regardless of his position, Skoronski is regarded as one of maybe 12-13 players who “carry a true first-round grade” in the draft, according to Adam Caplan of Pro Football Network. While anything could happen, this means that no one sees a possibility where Skoronski falls to Day 2 of the draft next week.

Here are a few other rumors leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft:

We’ve heard comments about Alabama quarterback Bryce Young‘s size being a concern as he makes the transition to the NFL. A recent report by Joe Person of The Athletic seems to confirm that his height is not considered the issue, his weight is. Young weighed in at the combine at a surprising 204 pounds, just three pounds shy of Kyler Murray‘s combine weight. If he ends up going No. 1 overall, like many expect, it sounds like the Panthers have a plan in place to put some meat on his bones.
Many are under the impression that, after just severing their connections to their last first-round running back, Ezekiel Elliott, there is no way that the Cowboys would go right back and take Texas running back Bijan Robinson in the first round this year. Well, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com, the team remains open to the possibility. Dallas’s executive vice president, Stephen Jones, emphasized that Robinson is almost certainly going on Day 1 of the draft and “you never know” if it’ll be the Cowboys who select him. With Tony Pollard coming off injury, the team may need a strong RB2 to help carry the load.
The Buccaneers are another team to keep an eye on for Robinson after he visited Tampa Bay recently, something he mentioned during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show. With the departure of Leonard Fournette to free agency, the Buccaneers return last year’s third-round pick Rachaad White, Ke’Shawn Vaughn, and Patrick Laird from last year’s rushing offense that ranked last in the NFL. They added Chase Edmonds in the offseason, but a top prospect like Robinson could be really valuable to Tampa Bay’s offense.

Northwestern T Peter Skoronski Declares For Draft

December 16th, 2022 at 8:42pm CST by Ely Allen

After three years of dominant play in the Big Ten, Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski announced on Twitter that he would forgo his senior year of eligibility to declare for the 2023 NFL Draft. Skoronski is widely considered the best offensive lineman in the coming draft.

Skoronski was a rare five-star signee for the Wildcats, becoming their highest-rated recruit since outside linebacker Ifeadi Odenigbo signed in 2012. The two-way athlete out of Maine South HS in Park Ridge, IL, chose to stay close to home, going to college a mere 30-minute drive away.

Skoronski made an immediate impact in Evanston, starting all eight games of the COVID-shortened season as a true freshman and earning All-Big Ten Second Team honors. He followed it up with 13 starts as a sophomore with All-Big Ten First Team honors and a bowl game win over Kentucky. In his final year, the dismal Wildcats may have gone 1-11, winning only a Week 0 matchup in Dublin against the Cornhuskers, but Skoronski delivered on preseason predictions, earning AP All-American First Team honors as a junior.

Skoronski may find himself susceptible to much of the same criticism as his former teammate, and first-round pick from last year, Chargers tackle Rashawn Slater. Slater fell victim to criticism that his 33-inch arms were too short for him to be a successful NFL tackle. Lo and behold, Skoronski’s arm length is reportedly almost an inch shorter. Regardless, while Skoronski could easily dominate as a guard at the next level, NFL teams would be foolish not to give him an opportunity at tackle. Skoronski is college football’s most dominant pass blocker this year, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), allowing only five pressures on 383 snaps in pass-protection.

Skoronski isn’t the first member of his family to realize their NFL dreams. His grandfather, Bob Skoronski, was an offensive tackle for the Packers who served as the team’s offensive captain in five of the Packers’ NFL championships and two of the Packers’ Super Bowl victories. The elder Skoronski was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame after 11 seasons of play in Green Bay.

The younger Skoronski is a consensus top-10 pick in this year’s draft. While there is a little bit of argument for Ohio State tackle Paris Johnson, Skoronski is widely considered the top draft-eligible offensive lineman in this year’s crop. When ESPN put together a group of analysts to rank each position group, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay both listed Skoronski as the top tackle over Johnson, while Jordan Reid and Matt Miller favored Johnson. Dane Brugler of The Athletic and Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus both sided with Kiper and McShay in their most recent prospect rankings, listing Skoronski ahead of Johnson.

Skoronski is almost guaranteed to join Slater as a first-round selection out of Northwestern this April. With only one win this season, the Wildcats don’t have a bowl game for Skoronski to opt out of, but he will have the NFL Combine and Northwestern’s pro day to convince scouts to move him even further up their draft boards.