In Week 1 you have to take the good and the bad with a grain of salt, however, Peter Skoronski's NFL debut was just the latest step in an impressive rookie year for the Tennessee Titans first-round pick.
Going back to training camp, there was plenty of talk about the Tennessee Titans' defensive line. Guys like Jeffery Simmons, Denico Autry, and Arden Key were getting plenty of buzz, but there was always an asterisk by what those linemen did.
The reason why there was an asterisk, was because the response to any positive report about the defensive line was, "Well, are we sure that the offensive line isn't just terrible?" and after the 2022 season, that was a fair question.
However, throughout all of the preseason hype being heaped on the Tennessee Titans defenders, you rarely heard about any of them beating rookie first-round pick, Peter Skoronski.
When the preaseason games started, Skoronski looked like the best offensive lineman on the roster for large stretches. However, again there was an asterisk with preseason praise because this time people were questioning if the defensive linemen he played against were actual NFL-caliber defensive linemen.
On Sunday, everyone finally got to see what Skoronski would look like in a game without any asterisks, and he didn't disappoint.
Peter Skoronski is a standout among all rookies, not just Tennessee Titans
There were some ups and downs, but for the most part Skoronski had an outstanding day as a blocker. In pass protection, he showed a solid anchor and good balance to deal with an aggressive front-four of the New Orleans Saints.
As a run blocker, he overpowered linemen consistently and he out-manuevered linebackers to create angles for Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears.
The man dubbed "Steady Eddie" earlier in the week, put up a solid performance and Mike Vrabel agreed after the game.
On Monday, Vrabel was effusive in his praise for Skoronski...well, as effusive as Mike Vrabel can be at least. In that press conference linked above, the quote that everyone has gravitated to is when Vrabel called Skoronski "fit for this league" which is something that I'm not sure we have ever heard Vrabel say about a rookie after his first game.
The highest-graded first-round rookies in Week 1 👀 pic.twitter.com/jeSjPy2Kr3
— PFF (@PFF) September 12, 2023
Whether you are someone that digs through the All-22 film or someone who would rather get the tl;dr version from PFF, every data point shows that Skoronski was one of the best rookies in the NFL on Sunday and he was also one of the best guards in the NFL in that game.
We will wait and see if the offensive line can keep this type of performance up for 18 weeks, but it is very encouraging that the most important offensive lineman on the roster is off to a hot start.