Cats make statement by landing four-star OL Peter Skoronski

Some commitments mean more than just adding a talented player to the roster. Peter Skoronski is one of those commitments for Northwestern.

The four-star tackle from Park Ridge (Ill.) Maine South announced his commitment to the Wildcats on Saturday and no doubt raised the eyebrows of recruiting followers across the country.

Skoronski is the No. 34 tackle in the nation, one of the bluest blue-chippers in the Midwest. He chose Northwestern over offers from Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State and several other big-time schools – we don’t know exactly how many because Skoronski’s recruiting process wasn’t just under the radar; it was underground.

The Wildcats identified Skoronski as their top offensive line prospect early and were one of the first schools to offer him a scholarship. They devoted a lot of time and resources in building a relationship with him throughout the recruiting process.

And now, they landed him.

We take a look at the impact of Skoronski’s as a player and a recruit, and what he adds to the Wildcat team.

As a player, there’s no doubting Skoronski’s talent. He’s 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, sure, but a lot of offensive linemen have size. What separates Skoronski from the pack is that he has the nimble feet and athletic fluidity of a figure skater.

WildcatReport saw Skoronski play in person last season, when it took all of 30 seconds to identify him as a Power Five prospect.

First of all, Skoronski has an ideal frame. He is almost skinny for his size – if a 270-pound high school junior can be considered skinny. There isn’t any of the baby fat or “bad weight” you see on many other high school offensive linemen. He is long and lean, and looks to have the capability of adding as much weight as he needs to play in the Big Ten.

On passing plays, Skoronski was - stalwart. He got his hands on his opponent – in this case, a defensive end who could end up playing Power Five football himself – and the battle was essentially over. The defender was stopped in his tracks and never got past Skoronski or within sniffing distance of Maine South’s quarterback.

Skoronski was most impressive, though, on running plays. He can be a road grader and overpower defensive linemen when he needs to, but his greatest assets shown through when he had to get to the second level. He was quick off the line and able to reach linebackers with ease, displaying a smooth, long stride and the speed to get downfield ahead of the play.

As a recruit, Skoronski is a seminal commitment, a player that makes people sit up and take notice. He is a big name in the Chicago area, the No. 5 recruit in the state and the star of one of the area’s traditional power programs (Maine South also produced former Wildcat quarterback Matt Alviti, a four-star prospect himself in 2013). Skoronski is the type of guy who has the name recognition to get other blue-chip prospects to follow him.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Skoronski was the Sphinx among big-time Chicago prospects, a silent giant that kept his recruiting process closer to the vest than anyone in recent memory – not an easy feat in this age of social media and 24-hour news cycles. He didn’t talk to any recruiting media, not even Rivals Illinois recruiting guru Edgy Tim. His Twitter presence is almost non-existent; he has posted eight retweets and just one tweet since New Year’s Day.

Filling the void of actual information came rampant speculation. Many experts had Skoroski pegged for Notre Dame. We knew that he visited Northwestern several times throughout the process – the campus is about 15 minutes from his home – but no one could really handicap where he stood. Until Saturday.

Skoronski is the 10th commitment in the 2020 class, which is already ranked 16th in the nation and will no doubt get a bump with its four-star addition. This class was supposed to be a referendum on Northwestern recruiting: with a shiny new Big Ten West division trophy and a shiny new practice facility to show off, could the Wildcats hang with the big boys in recruiting?

There has been a steady stream of big-time prospects visiting Evanston throughout the spring and summer. But Skoronski’s commitment – and the commitment of the offensive linemen who preceded him – shows that the Wildcats can close the deal, too.

Skoronski is the third offensive line commitment in the last two weeks for Northwestern’s class. Three-star Ben Wrather was the first to take the pledge on April 22, followed by three-star Josh Priebe on May 1.

Look at the offer lists and the most prominent schools the Wildcats beat to land them. They beat Penn State for Wrather in the battleground recruiting state of Ohio; they beat Michigan and Ohio State for the Michigander Priebe; and now Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State for Skoronski, one of the homegrown players NU likes to tout.

Northwestern is not only beating the big boys; its showing that its becoming a big boy itself.

So what does Skoronski mean to the Wildcat team? It’s not a secret that the offensive line has often been the weakest link for the Wildcats – head coach Pat Fitzgerald said as much after several games over the last few seasons.

But new offensive line coach Kurt Anderson has lived up to his reputation as a stellar recruiter in his first recruiting cycle and has brought in as impressive a trio as the Wildcats have had in several years.

Anderson is installing a new system he brought from the NFL to try and transform Northwestern’s offensive line into a nastier, more physical unit. He has drawn raves from players and prospects alike as a teacher, and now he’s recruiting the type of players who are able to make that vision a reality.

While there are no guarantees that any of them will turn into All-Big Ten players, Wrather, Priebe and Skoronski are coming in as more finished products than NU has had in the past, and could have higher ceilings.

Fitzgerald has the Wildcats rolling right now. He won his first Big Ten division title last season, as well as the conference coach of the year award. He has won three straight bowl games and four of five. The new additions to his staff seems to have breathed some life into his program. He said goodbye to the program's all-time leading quarterback and is replacing him with five-star Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson, who could be even better. Fitzgerald now has one of the best facilities in the nation to recruit with.

Skoronski’s commitment signals that Northwestern’s #WildcatWave20 is becoming a tsunami.