NFL prospects get picked apart for a variety of reasons in the months leading into the draft and offensive lineman Peter Skoronski’s arm length was a frequent talking point this spring.
Skoronski was a very effective tackle at Northwestern, but there was discussion that he might be forced inside to guard because his arms are shorter than what NFL teams usually look for in a tackle. The Titans liked Skoronski enough to make him the third offensive lineman off the board at No. 11 overall.
During an interview with The Mid Show, Skoronski said he was concerned enough about the arm length discussion that he “was hanging from bars and doing soft-tissue work on shoulders and my arms and my lats” in an effort to make them longer ahead of the combine. Skoronski didn’t wind up adding any length to his arms and said he doesn’t think arm length will be a major determining factor in his professional success.
“I think that’s definitely a good attribute to have in pass protection to keep someone off your body,” Skoronski said. “But I don’t think — and I’ve said this pretty much the whole process — I don’t think that’s the only factor or even like a huge factor, in my opinion. I think there’s so much more that goes into it.”
The Titans gave Skoronski reps at both guard and tackle this offseason and he’s almost certainly going to be lining up somewhere on the offensive line in Week One of the regular season. If he’s successful, there’s unlikely to be much more discussion of his arm length in the future.
