The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Expectations mount for Titans’ Skoronski
Pressure for a left guard? You bet. Peter Skoronski says he’s kind of gotten used to it.
But he’s not pretending it isn’t there. “A first-round pick is a lot of draft capital,” he said. “It’s a high evaluation, so people expect a big return from that. People expect Day 1 starters and perennial Pro Bowl-type players.”
In other words ...
“When you mess up,” he said, “it’s different than if an undrafted guy messes up.”
Skoronski, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Northwestern, understands that as well as anyone. Because he did mess up some in games as a rookie with the Tennessee Titans.
Not that it was a unique occurrence on last year’s team. The Titans’ leaky offensive line was the weak link in a disappointing season that led to a coaching change. An argument could be made that Skoronski was the unit’s best, and that still wouldn’t say much about an individual season that even he rates as too inconsistent.
It wasn’t terrible, but it was shy of the NFL player Skoronski wants to be – and is still expected to become.
“Some good things,” he said. “But then a lot to work on, too.”
Conventional NFL wisdom states that you shouldn’t draft a guard – a nonpremium position – so high unless he’s primed to immediately play like one of the league’s best.
While Skoronski wasn’t that in 2023, the excuses are so many and so plausible that they cease to be excuses. More so, they are reasons to expect a huge jump from him in year two.
In addition to the learning curve for any rookie, Skoronski was asked to thrive as part of the NFL’s worst offensive line. He also had to play a new position, “having played tackle my whole life,” he said. Don’t forget, too, about the emergency appendectomy he underwent right after the start of the season. Good luck overcoming a sudden loss of bulk and strength while figuring out how to tangle with NFL defensive tackles.
“You can say, ‘Yeah, I know everybody is going to be so much better (in the NFL),’” Skoronski said. “But until you feel it, you never know. That was definitely an adjustment.”
It would have made sense last season, given the Titans’ O-line struggles, for coaches to have relented at some point and placed Skoronski back at left tackle as the best available option.
The fact that Mike Vrabel never did that, however, should pay dividends for successor Brian Callahan, who quickly agreed with the previous staff’s assessment that Skoronski was an NFL guard, not a tackle. The toughest part of such a transition, the Titans can hope, is in the past.
Meanwhile, Callahan’s Titans have invested plenty in improving up front, particularly on Skoronski’s side. He’s now flanked by rookie left tackle JC Latham, who was drafted even higher than Skoronski, and expensive free agent center Lloyd Cushenberry.
With an influx of talent and Brian’s deeply respected father, Bill Callahan, coaching up the offensive line, the arrow is pointing up for the entire group. And especially for Skoronski.
“He looks like what guards are supposed to look like,” Brian Callahan said. “He’s put a lot of really good work in.”
True, Skoronski looks stronger. More confident. Says he’s more comfortable at guard.
Says, too, that he knows what’s expected of him and that it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“It can be a good thing,” he said. “I feel like it’s a huge blessing to be a firstround pick – in a lot of ways. You’re very appreciative of that. It can be a lot of pressure sometimes, but it’s also a good motivator, too. You have that expectation to meet every day, it makes you better.”
In 2024, I’d expect Skoronski to be a lot better, along with the rest of the Titans’ offensive line.