The Trench Warfare 2023 NFL Draft Film Room - Episode 2 featuring Northwestern LT Peter Skoronski

Photo via Tyler Wise

Welcome everyone to the second edition of the 2023 NFL Draft film room series where I sit down with OL prospects in the upcoming draft class. The intent is to shine a light on each player’s story and skill-set while watching their college film together. The focus will be on the best competition they faced to best assess the strengths of their game and what they can rely on during their pro careers. 

We will discuss technique, scheme, dive into opponents and take you inside their preparation leading up to the game and how they processed information in real time. During our talks, players often share unique anecdotes and stories from the game and their careers that you can only find here on Trench Warfare.

Former Northwestern LT Peter Skoronski joined me in an informative, detailed discussion about his college career before we dove into his film. Skoronski is a 33-game starter who came to Northwestern as the first ever 5-star recruit in school history before taking over for former Wildcat and current Los Angeles Chargers LT Rashawn Slater.

In a similar vein to Slater, Skoronski is an undersized tackle prospect with less than ‘ideal’ measurables for the position contrasted with several years of high-quality film manning the blindside against high-level competition, including multiple first and second-round picks. 

When studying Skoronski on film, I came away seeing a very similar player to current Chiefs LG Joe Thuney both in terms of as prospects and projecting how Skoronski might win in the NFL. That said, the NFL is even more tackle-starved and passing-oriented than it was back in 2016 when Thuney entered the draft. So there is a strong chance Skoronski gets every opportunity to play tackle upon entering the league before potentially kicking inside.

There are cases for Skoronski to play tackle or guard as a pro, but the common denominator in both projections is that he is the most technically proficient and polished blocker in the 2023 class with the skill-set to play multiple positions and become a plus starter right away as a rookie somewhere along the offensive line.

Here are some specific topics covered during the film room:

• Broaching the topic of staying at tackle in the NFL and why Skoronski feels he has earned the right to stay outside

• A key piece of advice Skoronski picked up from Slater as it relates to pass-protection technique

• The famous vertical set video from Skoronski’s high school days

• Studying Joe Thomas and what he has tried to adopt from Thomas’ game into his own

• ‘Running around your hand’ in the run game was mentioned a couple different times as a technique on climbs or screens to block second-level defenders.

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• Varying his footwork and use of hands depending on game situation

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• “Film study” reps where Skoronski had the upper-hand on the opponent based on his game preparation

• Northwestern’s scheme and variations

• Why remaining square in his pass set is so critical for success in pass-protection

• Hand positioning/carriage and why that it is important for stopping inside pass-rush moves

Miss prior NFL Draft player film rooms?

Darnell Wright

Cole Strange

Bernhard Raimann

Zion Johnson

Trevor Penning

Ikem Ekwonu

Creed Humphrey

Landon Dickerson

Teven Jenkins

Full Skoronski film room: