Pat Fitzgerald disregards reports of Peter Skoronski's short arms

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Recently, reports concerning Northwestern tackle Peter Skoronski's short arms have come into question about his ability to play tackle at the NFL level. He's brushed off the narrative, saying he can play tackle or anywhere else on the offensive line.

His coach at Northwestern, Pat Fitzgerald, similarly disarmed the chatter, arguing his strength and athleticism as premier traits.

"I talked to a GM of another team last week and I said one thing, 'Just go back and watch the tape,'" Fitzgerald said on 670 The Score with Mully & Haugh. "When Peter moves people against their will - it's one thing to pass, set, be all pretty and all. But when push comes to shove and you got to take a man and move him, I have never seen someone like Peter do what he does. And that's the way he was in high school. He was that way in the Big Ten. And I fully expect to be that way in the NFL."

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Skoronski is expected to be one of the first offensive linemen taken off the board.

The Bears are a prime candidate to take Skoronski, considering the horrid job their offensive line did last season. Last year, Justin Fields tied Russell Wilson as the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL. And while some skeptics questioned his decision-making, the offensive line had a major hand in pass protection.

Ryan Poles and the Bears have also mentioned their affinity for players from the area. Even though Skoronski grew up a Green Bay Packers fan because of his dad's hand on Vince Lombardi's Packers team, he grew up in Illinois and, obviously, attended Northwestern University in Evanston.

Fitzgerald calls Skoronoski's arm length an outlier, saying it would be foolish to believe his arm length should tip the scales for teams not to draft him. He mentioned teams could have leaked the rumor to offset other teams from drafting Skoronski.

"I always say just pop on the tape," Fitzgerald said. "You got to look at the thing holistically. If you just look at one data point,  you shouldn't draft any of these guys, right? It's got to be the holistic approach. . . "But most organizations, the Bears included, are incredibly thorough. And the way they go about the evaluation process and just where the guys end up."

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