Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald is a lifelong Bears fan and one of the fiercest defenders of Peter Skoronski, his starting left tackle the past three seasons. When he heard the Bears traded their No. 1 overall draft pick Friday, he had one thought.
“When I saw the trade, I went: ‘Skoronski to the Bears — Let’s go … ’” Fitzgerald said Tuesday morning before the Wildcats’ on-campus pro day in Evanston. “We got our quarterback. Now let’s go get our left tackle.”
Skoronski makes a lot more sense for the Bears than he did a week ago. He’s projected to be the highest-drafted offensive lineman next month, when the Bears hold the Panthers’ No. 9 overall pick.
The franchise’s presence at Ryan Fieldhouse on Tuesday reinforced the feeling the two might be a match. Ryan Poles stopped by for two hours despite being one of the NFL’s most active general managers during the legal tampering period. Head coach Matt Eberflus was there even longer.
After acing the NFL Scouting Combine, Skoronski chose only to do position drills, which were run by Bears offensive line coach Chris Morgan. Defensive line coach Travis Smith watched from afar, as did countless Bears scouts and staffers. They’ve been attending the pro day in larger numbers in recent years, but Tuesday nonetheless felt like a show of force. The Bears plan to bring him to Halas Hall for an interview between now and the late April draft, too.
The Park Ridge native and Maine South alum doesn’t share Fitzgerald’s favorite pro team; his grandfather Bob played tackle for the Packers and won five NFL titles from 1961-67.
“I would say I grew up rooting against the Bears … ” he told NFL Network shortly after his workout. “I’ve witnessed this fan base, and all my best friends are Bears fans. … It’d be great to stay home and play here.”
Others have different ideas. Northwestern credentialed representatives from all 32 teams for the pro day. Shortly after his on-field interview, Skoronski was whisked into meetings with scouts and coaches that lasted two hours.
“How many guys in the history of the Big Ten started as a true freshman at left tackle?” Fitzgerald asked about the player who gave up five sacks in 2,364 college snaps. “It’s very few. And then to go on to have the career he had, never missing a practice, never missing a game, the consistency in play at a very high level. The durability. The football IQ. He’s the complete package.
“Seeing what he did at the Combine shows that he’s also that type of athlete. Someone’s going to be really ecstatic.”
Skoronski’s Combine workouts were impressive — his 34.5 vertical leap was second-best among offensive linemen and his 30 bench press reps were fifth. His arm measurement — 32 ¼ inches — confirmed a concern, held by some, that he was better-suited for guard than tackle.
“This is the overanalyze-everything era,” Fitzgerald said. “I think you pop on the tape and he’s playing against the best defensive linemen in the country for three years, and it’s never been a problem. Just watch the tape. I think the football people will.
“I think between now and the draft, the smoke that gets put out there to try to knock him down so the teams in the teens will hopefully maybe get him — even though I don’t think that’ll happen.”
If it were up to Fitzgerald, he’d go ninth.
“I think he’d look really good in a Chicago Bears uniform,” he said.
