Rivals experts scout NU's new offensive line commits

Northwestern has pulled in an impressive trio of offensive linemen in its 2020 class. In a two-week period, the Wildcats landed commitments from three-stars Ben Wrather and Josh Priebe, and four-star Peter Skoronski, in that order

It's as impressive a haul of O-linemen that the school has had in recent history. The Wildcats beat out schools like Michigan (Priebe and Skoronski), Ohio State (Priebe), Notre Dame (Skoronski) and Penn State (Wrather and Skoronski), among many others, to get them to Evanston.

Landing those three linemen sent ripples through the recruiting world. But what do Rivals' recruiting experts think of their skills as players?

We went to Rivals' Midwest recruiting expert Josh Helmoldt to get his scouting report on all three of them. In addition, we have Illinois recruit expert Edgy Tim O'Halloran's take on Skoronski, whom he has seen in person.

This is what they had to say.

O'Halloran: I've been able to watch Skoronski live in games over the past two seasons at Maine South. Skoronski also took part in a North Central College satellite camp last summer and I also saw him make a camp visit to NIU last summer when Penn State was one of the schools in attendance.

Skoronski played on both sides of the football in 2018 and was an impact type of performer for the Hawks. He has really good size with a frame that will no question be capable of adding more weight and size at the next level. He played offensive tackle and some nose guard in 2018.

Skoronski shows really good overall strength and power and also has a good first step and uses his hands well. He also is capable of getting to the second level of block and is always looking for another defender to block... Skoronski is listed at 6-foot-4, 280 pounds but to me looks like a kid who will keep growing and who has the frame/overall length to become say 6-5/6-6 before he's done growing.

(In terms of improvement), Skoronski has good feet and mobility but can improve on his overall quickness and agility, especially if school project him as more of a guard. Skoronski also has good power and punch but, like every high school-level linemen, can work on improving using his hands better while also developing his overall strength, quickness and linemen fundamentals this off season.

Helmholdt: The Northwestern offensive line commit I am most intrigued by, but also know the least about, is Peter Skoronski. When I first turned on his film about a year ago he might have had one or two offers, but he immediately jumped off the tape, and we rated him a four-star from the outset.

He is an athlete at the offensive tackle position, and he displays a healthy level of intensity. I love the way he is able to get out in space, locate and still be powerful. I would like to get a few questions answered about his frame and future growth potential, but I do not worry about having him rated too high even though we have yet to see him in-person.

Helmholdt: Of Northwestern's three most recent offensive line commits, the only one I have seen both on film and in-person is Wrather, who was at the Best of the Midwest Combine in February.

What I like best about Wrather is that he checks a lot of boxes. He has a large frame but does not carry a lot of bad weight. He moves decently, has good technique and he could provide position versatility.

There are some questions still to answer moving forward for us, though, and that has to do with his overall athleticism. I do wonder how close he is to being maxed out and just how high his upside is.

Helmholdt: Similar to Skoronski, we have yet to see Priebe in-person. He lives not too far from me, however, and even if we do not see him this off-season, I am confident we will get an in-person look at him in the fall.

Priebe also looks like he may have some position versatility, and he is a good athlete for the offensive line. He shows a strong technical understanding of the position that is ahead of the curve for his age group, and is a guy I could see getting a healthy ratings boost if we are able to check a couple more boxes when we get that in-person evaluation.