The Pittsburgh Steelers’ coaching staff is hitting the scouting trail hard Tuesday. With a full contingency at Clemson to watch its top prospects, Steelers’ offensive line coach Pat Meyer is at Northwestern’s Pro Day to check out projected top pick OL Peter Skoronski.
That news comes courtesy of Northwestern’s/WNUR’s Bradley Locker, who snapped this photo of Meyer a short time ago and noted he spent time talking with Skoronski.
Locker also notes Director of Player Scouting Mark Sadowski is in attendance.
Skoronski is one of the top offensive linemen in this year’s class and is expected to be a first-round pick. His biggest question is the NFL position he’ll play. A left tackle in college, a lack of ideal size and length has many teams looking to kick him inside to guard at the next level. Despite the projection, Skoronski said at the Combine he wants teams to know he can play tackle, too.
“I’ve got no issues with moving inside or anything. I just want to emphasize that I can play the tackle position at the next level with it.”
In our pre-draft scouting report, our Jonathan Heitritter praised Skoronski for his athleticism, ability to down block, and football IQ and nuance to vary his pass sets and keep defenders on their toes. However, he dinged Skoronski for not always being able to anchor and rebuff power rushes and rushers while noting the overall size concerns that may bump him inside to guard.
Overall, Skoronski received a first-round grade and NFL comparison to Justin Pugh.
Pittsburgh could look to take a big swing and improve its offensive line. If tried at tackle, Skoronski could replace Dan Moore Jr. on the left side. If he kicks to left guard, he could replace Kevin Dotson.
While Meyer is in attendance, history says Skoronski won’t be the team’s first-round pick. Every first-round selection since 2010 has had the Steelers’ GM or head coach at their Pro Day, and Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan are spending their Tuesday in Clemson for the Tigers’ workout. History could be broken, just in the way the team agreed to a deal with a 30-plus year old defensive free agent in Patrick Peterson. But generally, the Steelers’ decision-makers prefer to get eyes on their future first-round selection.
Check out our full report on Skoronski below.
