Throughout the pre-draft process and before he was drafted with the No. 11 overall pick by the Tennessee Titans, offensive lineman Peter Skoronski was universally seen as one of the safest picks in the draft.
He’s technically sound, poised, strong, and he hardly ever beats himself — and those were all things that we saw in his NFL debut on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
Buy Titans TicketsIn his first regular-season game, Skoronski consistently held his own in a ridiculously hostile environment against a formidable defensive front, only accounting for 6.7 percent of the team’s pressures and no penalties.
When it was all said and done, Skoronski finished as Tennessee’s highest-graded player on offense, according to Pro Football Focus.
#Titans Pressure Responsibility Breakdown:
QB: 16.7%
LT: 40%
LG: 6.7%
C: 20%
RG: 6.7%
RT: 6.7%— Football & Other F Words (@FWordsPod) September 11, 2023
After the game, Skoronski discussed what it was like to play in the very loud Superdome for the first time.
“I’ve played at Nebraska, so that’s obviously crazy, but I think this may have been the loudest, though,” said Skoronski, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “It’s a cool environment to play in, (but) you know, I obviously wish we came out with a win.”
Tennessee’s offense struggled with the noise early on in the game. Skoronski noted that the offense has to get better in that regard but believes it will.
“I think it [the noise] can [lead to penalties], but it just starts with being poised and on the same page,” Skoronski said. “We can’t have stuff like that, even if it is a loud environment. That’s something you can work on during the week with speakers and stuff like that, so we’ll get better.”
Following the Northwestern product’s debut, head coach Mike Vrabel had a positive review, stating that Skoronski is “fit for this league.”
“I thought pretty good,” Vrabel said of the rookie’s debut, according to Titans247. “There’s a couple of times where he could have been better in protection. But I would say that Peter, he’s fit for this league.”
Back to back Peter Skoronski plays – he was by far the Titans' best offensive player yesterday (low bar) pic.twitter.com/D8L0F3bZqX
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) September 11, 2023
Fellow guard Daniel Brunskill also spoke highly of his rookie teammate for how prepared and successful he is at a lot of things that rookie offensive linemen usually aren’t.
#Titans guard Daniel Brunskill: Not often when a rookie can come in and have success in a lot of areas. Peter Skoronski is very poised, level-headed. He doesn't get flustered.
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) September 11, 2023
Adding to the praise Skoronski received, it only took one game for NFL draft analyst Mike Renner to declare that Skoronski has “it”.
Rookies I've watched from yesterday that look like they've got "it" already:
Jalen Carter
Will Anderson
Bijan Robinson
Peter Skoronski
Zay Flowers
Luke Musgrave
Keeanu Benton— Mike Renner (@mikerenner_) September 11, 2023
While the Week 1 outcome may not have been what we all wanted to see for the Titans, it was at least confirmation of what many of us expected from No. 77: he’s got the goods to be a very good offensive lineman for a long time.
