Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Why Peter Skoronski. was drafted by the Tennessee Titans | 2023 NFL Draft Reaction

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Tennessee Titans want to run the ball and play defense. Mike Vrabel has made that abundantly clear. So to help them do that with the 11th pick in the 2023 NFL draft, they take Northwestern offensive lineman, Peter Skowronski. And joining me now from Locked on Titans is Tyler Rowland. Locked on NFL drafts coverage is presented by Ultimate Football GM. You think you can run an NFL franchise? Visit ultimate-gm.com

Starting point is 00:00:28 to play the ultimate NFL GM simulation game. Start your dynasty today. Tyler, the Titans, not quite a dynasty right now, but needed desperately to solidify this offensive front. What are they getting in Skowronski? I think Skowronski is a perfect

Starting point is 00:00:45 fit for the Titans. You said that the Titans want to run the ball and play defense. Well, I don't care if the Titans want to run the ball, if the Titans want to protect the quarterback, if the Titans want to score any points going forward, they needed to have a better offensive line. They've made some additions in free agency, but Skowronski is just a perfect guy because the Titans bring in Andre Dillard in free agency. He'll probably play out at left tackle but Skowronski is just a perfect guy because the Titans bring in Andre Dillard in free agency. He'll probably play out at left tackle. Skowronski can then slide into left guard. A lot of people around the league think Skowronski is going to be a guard at the next level despite playing tackle his three seasons in college when he was actually out on the field, and if Skowronski

Starting point is 00:01:21 does prove to be a good offensive tackle despite some arm length concerns, well, then you can just replace Andre Dillard with Skowronski going forward because Dillard isn't any kind of long-term answer or anything like that. So the versatility that Skowronski provides on the offensive line is critical for the Titans. But I think what stands out the most is this is Titans' new general manager, Rand Carthon's first draft with the team.

Starting point is 00:01:44 And while it would have been sexy. And while it would have been sexy and while it would have been a home run to trade up the three and get CJ Stroud, that wasn't an option that they had. From the buzz we heard all day long leading up to the picks, the Titans did try to get up to the third pick with the Cardinals. And I think they would have if CJ Stroud fell there, but the Titans couldn't force the Texans to give up the number two pick, so the Texans take their quarterback, and since the Titans can't hit a home run, the next best thing you can do is hit a double, and I think that's what they've done here. They didn't hit the home run, but they hit a double with Peter Skowronski to get Brant Carthon's

Starting point is 00:02:19 tenure as GM started off on the right foot, regardless of whether Skowronski plays tackle or plays guard. The Titans probably have themselves a 10-year starter on the right foot, regardless of whether Skowronski plays tackle or plays guard. The Titans probably have themselves a 10-year starter on the offensive line, and with the misses of Isaiah Wilson in 2020 and Caleb Farley in 2021, the Titans had to hit on this first-round pick at No. 11, and even if it was a little bit of a safe pick, the way the board fell, I think it was a great move by the Titans and Titans GM rank are thon echoed those sentiments and said the way the board fell, there really wasn't much of a conversation. Skowronski was the automatic pick. Any consideration here to Kentucky quarterback

Starting point is 00:02:55 Will Levis, who had been compared to Ryan Tannehill and a lot of these Shanahan tree quarterbacks. I heard one person call him vascular Ryan Tannehill because he's so yoked up. Do you think he could have made sense in a scenario like this? Well, I think as we got closer to the draft, I was somebody who was not a big fan of Levis' game. He was my fourth quarterback out of the top four. And I wasn't really someone who wanted the Titans to take a look at him. But what I want and what the Titans were set to do can always be different things. And Will Levis' system that he ran in college was pro style, heavy play action.

Starting point is 00:03:34 And I think it did fit what the Titans do schematically. But at the end of the day, I'm hoping that the Titans saw some of the things that I saw, some lower body mechanics that were a little bit wonky, a tendency to be turnover prone because he doesn't go through his progressions quick enough. And that leads to poor decisions and rush decisions. So I'm glad that the Titans decided that right now wasn't the right time to take quarterback, especially Levis. I know that a lot of people who follow the Titans, a lot of national media are looking at Ryan Tannehill and saying, come on, man, it's time to improve. And I agree, it is time to improve at quarterback.

Starting point is 00:04:04 But you don't force that need if you don't believe in the prospect. And especially at number 11, where you're not getting your pick of the litter in any way, I think it makes sense for the Titans to move away from quarterback after the guy they really liked in Stroud got selected and focus on building the best roster that you possibly can, because there's two routes to go in the NFL. You get your quarterback and you build around him, or you build a castle to put your king in eventually once you find your quarterback. And the Titans clearly have decided to go the route of trying to build up the roster for their next quarterback

Starting point is 00:04:35 rather than forcing a quarterback right now and trying to build around him later. So love the decision by the Titans. And Levis may turn out to be a great player, but based on what we know from college and where the Titans and Levis may turn out to be a great player, but based on what we know from college and where the Titans are at as a team, I think it was a smart move to pass on him and go for Peter Skowronski on the offensive line. What do you think this pick does to the likelihood that the Tennessee Titans make a call to a certain team in Northern California for a

Starting point is 00:05:00 quarterback? Let's just call him Trey Lance. Okay. Yeah. Well, I got to be honest with you. My personal opinion is that would be the wrong decision. With Lance, he's just as uncertain right now as the day that he was drafted and you've lost two years of time to get value on a rookie contract. So you get all of the risk of Trey Lance with half of the time value. So for that reason, I would decline. But again, what I want and what I think may not be what the Titans do. And if the Titans can get a fourth round pick or a conditional third round pick for Trey Lance, I think it probably would make some sense to take a risk on him. Rankar Thon came from San Francisco. He's the new Titans

Starting point is 00:05:43 general manager. He was involved in the decision to trade up and get Trey Lance. Clearly, there's some belief there. I go back to after Rankarthon got the job as Titans general manager, Trey Lance posted on his Instagram with three crossed finger emojis. So you could take that as he's hoping that Rankarthon comes and gets him so he can go to Tennessee and take over as their quarterback in the future. It does make sense, Peter. I will give you that.

Starting point is 00:06:09 There is logic there, and I will entertain it if the price is right. But for my money, you get all the risk of a rookie quarterback with only half of the value of the contract time. So I would pass on that, but it's definitely a possibility for the Titans as we get into day two of the draft. Still very much a team to watch the Tennessee Titans. And if you want to watch everything that's going on with them, get the latest analysis. You can subscribe to Locked on Titans wherever you get podcasts, part of the Locked on Podcast

Starting point is 00:06:35 Network, your team every day. Thanks, Ty.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Why Peter Skoronski. was drafted by the Tennessee Titans | 2023 NFL Draft Reaction

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