It’s a long season and we’ve only had two games of rookie offensive tackle Justin Skule. In Week 3 we saw some penalties against the Steelers. In Week 5, Skule was tossed into the deep end against Myles Garrett and the rest of that Cleveland Browns defensive line. Garrett walked away with a single sack, and it wasn’t when he was lined up against Skule.
Obviously, Garrett wouldn’t be lined up against Skule all night, but they easily could have picked on Skule if they saw an opening. It was assumed Garrett would get his, but his one ended up being the only sack for the night. And that sack wasn’t against Skule, meaning starting in just his second game against a decent defensive line, Skule didn’t give up a sack.
Oh and Skule had three penalties against the Steelers. How many did he have against the Browns?
Zero (0).
There are a few things to keep in mind. First, the Steelers blitzed the [site-decorum] out of the 49ers. The Browns didn’t do it near as much, but they also have the talent where they felt like they wouldn’t need to. Regardless, for a young rookie to get through a game like that with 0 penalties and not sacrifice Jimmy Garoppolo’s health is promising.
There’s not much else we really can say about Skule at this point. The thing is, left tackle is one of those positions where if you aren’t talking about them, they are doing their job. We don’t have much to report on Skule, so he did his job.
We’re a long ways off to saying Skule is ready to replace Joe Staley. Teams are getting film on him and will better learn how to attack his side of the offensive line. Right now, Skule is will work through some rookie mistakes and get great experience starting on the line. If he is to be a starter, this experience will be invaluable. We have a few more games to see what the 49ers have in him, but they might have found a diamond in the rough and a potential starter in a year or two when Staley hangs it up.
By the way, this was a sixth round pick.