Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Peter Skoronski continues to develop ahead of his first season in the NFL, where he’ll be playing left guard, a position the former left tackle did not play at in college.
As if learning a new position wasn’t difficult enough, Skoronski is going up against a fearsome group of defensive lineman as he gets acclimated, with the Northwestern product regularly facing Denico Autry, Jeffery Simmons and Teair Tart in practice.
While it has been “awesome” to watch, according to offensive line coach Jason Houghtaling, it’s also a valuable learning experience for the rookie, who will only improve against such talented competition.
“It’s tremendously challenging, and those guys are some of the best in the league in terms of the whole defensive front,” Skoronski said, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport.
“They kind of show you a little bit of everything of what you might see, so I’m really fortunate to have guys to really challenge me everyday and force me to get better.”
Skoronski was asked what it’s like facing a faster guy like Arden Key when he comes to the inside. He noted that experience at tackle helps him with an assignment like that.
“Yeah, obviously that’s tough,” he admitted. “I’ve got to kind of go back to my tackle days in dealing with speed like that, but the same fundamentals still apply.”
With a rookie like Skoronski, you at least want to see him holding his own against such talented players, and lately he appears to have been doing just that.
“Some solid reps from Peter Skoronski vs. bull rush from Denico Autry, Jeffery Simmons,” Davenport wrote on Thursday.
Peter Skoronski just had a solid rep vs Denico Autry in 1 on 1s. Good push to drive him back on what would have been a run play.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 4, 2023
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