5 significant questions for the Tennessee Titans offensive line in 2023
- Did the Titans improve at offensive line this offseason?
- Andre Dillard looks to be a smart acquisition via free agency
- Can the Titans finally avoid offensive line injury bug?
4. Is it a good idea for the Titans to move 1st-round pick Peter Skoronski to LG?
This might have been a bit of a controversial pick on Draft Day and not because the Titans passed up the chance to choose a quarterback but because Peter Skoronski came out of college with a huge red flag.
Make no mistake, the Park Ridge, Illinois native showed great footwork and outstanding technique at Northwestern. Looking back, it's not surprising that he dominated his competition on a consistent basis but that was in college. At the NFL level, he lacks the ideal arm length to successfully play offensive tackle.
The average length for offensive tackles is 34" but he was measured at 32 1/4" at this year's NFL Scouting Combine. While that extra 1 3/4 inch might not seem like much of a difference, offensive tackles must widen the edge to protect the quarterback. And as former head coach Jim Mora Jr. noted, a wider edge can come from long legs or a long torso, but "it is your arms that keep the pass rusher away from your body".
This is to say that the longer an offensive tackle's arms are, the better they can generate space and Skoronski simply doesn't have optimal size for the position at the NFL. Knowing that the Titans will have given the former Wildcat reps at left guard, who might have a higher chance of excelling in the pros.
You could make the case that Tennessee could have waited until the later rounds to draft players that didn't have to make a position switch but if Skoronski ends up becoming a mainstay at left guard for the next 10 years, does it really matter where the Titans took him?