Early on in the draft process, one of the most commonly mocked players to the Raiders at No. 7 was Northwestern OL Peter Skoronski. On paper, it makes sense. The Raiders need offensive line help and Skoronski was the nation’s best offensive lineman last season.
However, there are some major questions now about where he plays in the NFL and his fit with the Raiders. During the NFL Combine, Skoronski measured in with very small arms. That likely means he’ll need to play guard in the NFL, but would a team like the Raiders really draft a guard at No. 7?
In a recent article by Pro Football Focus, they named Skoronski one of the biggest losers at the NFL Combine. Here is what they had to say about his performance in Indianapolis:
Skoronski only came in with 32 1/4-inch arms, which will have many questioning whether he can stay at tackle or be forced inside to guard. Since PFF’s inception in 2006, only seven offensive tackles have played 400-plus snaps in an NFL season with arms that short. Only two, Braden Smith and Justin Pugh, graded out above 70.0 in a season. Skoronski’s dominant tape warrants giving him a shot at tackle, but teams could opt for the more toolsy tackles at the top of the draft.
In fairness to Skoronski, we knew that he was expected to have sub-33″ arms. So his measurement of 32 1/4″ shouldn’t really surprise anyone. And to his credit, he performed extremely well in all the other drills and tested as a very good athlete.
Still, it seems unlikely that the Raiders would take a short-armed offensive lineman with their top pick, especially with them already having a Pro Bowl tackle on their roster in Kolton Miller. Instead, look for them to beef up the offensive line later in the draft and pass on Skoronski in Round 1.
