STRENGTHS
Dan Skipper reminds me of former Cowboys OT Doug Free. He is extremely tall for his position but with surprising athletic talent. He moves fluidly and is very good when he is used in a pulling system or for sweeps. In fact he is one of the better pulling offensive tackles I have seen in a long time. He has good balance and foot speed and because he is a fluid athlete blocking on the move in front of a receiver or running back is not a problem. Dan has a little bit of the nasty's to his game and has good football intelligence but in spite of his height and athletic talent Dan for the next level is a developmental offensive lineman but well worth the time a team will have to put in to him to develop.

CONCERNS
First of all Dan’s upper body strength is lacking big time and he needs to get on a good strength and conditioning program that concentrates on that. He is very tight in the hips and although he moves with excellent fluidity go forward he lacks later agility and to be honest that will always be an issue until he learns the techniques to minimize this weakness. What makes Dan’s potential interesting is the fact that once he turns his hips he has the foot quickness to drive his opponent up the field allowing his QB to slide in the pocket.

BOTTOM LINE
Dan’s foot quickness, balance and overall fluid athletic talent makes him an intriguing prospect to become a starting right tackle for the team that selects him and develops him. Most of the time a player with Dan’s talent will be moved inside because of his quick feet. Dan combine numbers were Height, 6’ 9.5”, Weight 309 lbs. He ran his ten yards at 1.88 and that is well within the time for most offensive tackles. He is not skinny; in fact he is well built and could handle more muscle easily. His three cones was 7.61 and beat most of the other players who will play offensive tackle at the next level. Seeing these numbers made me put on the film expecting to see a lumbering type of player who is not fluid enough to play tackle and too tall and not quick enough to play guard. When I looked at the film I saw a surprisingly athletic and talent offensive lineman with big issues but none of those issues that couldn’t be overcome with a little hard work. Dan’s work ethic is the key to him becoming a starting right Tackle for the next ten years and he could even make it to pro bowl status in the future if that work ethic is tied to a 6’10” person who wants it bad enough. Now remember this TBR is a talent grade and does not reflect the round Dan might be selected in. Nevertheless my take on the whole development issues for Dan is like I always say, draft the obvious and the obvious in this case is athleticism in a 6’10’ body and when you turn on the film that athleticism is obvious. #duh

Drew Boylhart  APR.2017