Zach Skinner

Zachary Skinner

Zach Skinner celebrating a sack in his second season
No. 94 – Yellowknife Wraiths
Position:	Defensive Line
Personal information
Born:	(1997-01-29)January 29, 1997 (aged 66) Memphis, TN
Height:	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:	300 lb (136 kg)
Career information
High school:	Whitehaven High School
College:	University of Tennessee Knoxville
ISFL Draft:	2022 (S7) / Round: 2 / Pick: 15
Career history
Portland Pythons (2021 (S6)) Yellowknife Wraiths (2022 (S7)–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career NSFL statistics as of Week 17, 2023
Total tackles: 27 Pass deflections: 0 Interceptions: 0 Forced fumbles: 0 Sacks: 4 Total touchdowns: 0
Player stats at ISFL.net

Zach Skinner (born January 29, 1997) is an American football defensive lineman for the Yellowknife Wraiths of the National Simulation Football League (NSFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers before entering the professional ranks in 2021, joining the Portland Pythons. In the 2022 ISFL Draft (S7), Skinner was selected fifteenth overall by the Yellowknife Wraiths.

Early years

Zach Skinner was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and showed early promise as a football player, as well as a passion for the game. He set numerous records for his high school team, the white haven tigers, and earned a full ride to the University of Tennessee in his junior year. Those records that he set include most touchdowns in a season and career, most sacks in a game, season, and career, and most tackles for a loss in a game, season, and career.

College career

In throughout his collegiate career, Skinner was a star. In two seasons at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, he started 21 games.

In his first season, as a true freshman, Skinner was redshirted as a 250 pound outside linebacker. But in his third game, after their starter and second stringer at left outside linebacker went down, Skinner stepped up, delivering two sacks in the fourth quarter to help lead a comeback win against rival school Florida.

He finished that freshman season with not such stellar production as that first outing, ending up with 11.5 sacks, 16 tackles for a loss, and forty-seven tackles. The Volunteers weren't able to contend in a bowl game with their 5-7 record, but he was at least one bright spot and a sign of things to come.

That offseason, Zach went to work, putting on 30 pounds of muscle and keeping his speed, refining his game in order to prepare. he wanted to win. And as a result, in his second season, Skinner was, in the preseason, hailed as the best player on the team, and he delivered on those expectations, tallying four sacks, three forced fumbles, twenty tackles, and two defensive touchdowns in their first four contests, leading the team to an undefeated record and a number 7 spot on the college football rankings.

Unfortunately, that early-season tear wasn't sustainable. In their next six contests, despite Skinner racking in an additional four sacks and nineteen tackles, the team around him was struggling without his otherworldly production, the squad dropping four of those and having a very narrow margin of +9 total in the two that they won. Due to those games, the Volunteers quickly fell out of contention for a playoff spot with their unimpressive record of 6-4.

Despite this, Zach Skinner was garnering national attention after generating buzz as a freshman. His production was unbelievable, and he helped rally the Vols to finish the year with three straight wins, including a win over Oregon in their bowl game. Skinner posted his best collegiate game in that bowl, dominating with his second 3 sack performance, five tackles for a loss, twelve tackles, and a forced fumble that he recovered for his third touchdown on the year.

Overall, Skinner finished that season with 17.5 sacks, 20 tackles for a loss, and sixty-five total tackles. After that impressive campaign, Skinner decided to leave the college ranks to play in the DSFL.

College career statistics

Career statistics			Tackles	TFL	Sacks	Season	Games
2019	TEN	8	47	16	11.5	1	8
2020	TEN	13	65	20	17.5	2	13

Professional career

Zach Skinner in his first training camp with the Yellowknife Wraiths

In Skinner's first season, he was picked up halfway throughout the year by the Portland Pythons, and while he wasn't immediately as dominant as he had hoped, he was a key cog in helping the team get to the playoffs on the back of a defensive unit that improved markedly after a few key pickups. Notably, it was said of Skinner that it was a shame after he was drafted because he wouldn't get to experience a playoff run, which was far from the truth.

Once in the playoffs, not much was expected of Skinner, who had, in his limited time frame, only managed seven tackles and two tackles for a loss, but he had his best game in Portland in his first playoff game, motoring his way to six tackles, three tackles for a loss, and his first career sack. Unfortunately, the Pythons would lose that heart-breaker of a game.

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40‑yd dash	20‑ss	3‑cone	Vert jump	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	290 lb (132 kg)	37+2⁄8 in (0.95 m)	10+5⁄8 in (0.27 m)	4.53 s	4.59 s	7.58 s	26.7 in (0.68 m)	9 ft 4.1 in (2.85 m)	31 reps	12
2022 NSFL Scouting Combine

That next year, after Skinner had been drafted in the second round by the Yellowknife Wraiths, he came back as a much better player, and with ten pounds of muscle added to his already massive frame. As the lead man of a dominant defensive line including DSFL rookies James Brown at defensive tackle and Young Spaghetti at the other defensive end spot, Skinner showed the results of his offseason training, improving on his 2021 (S6) numbers of 7 tackles and 2 TFL to post 31 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, and four sacks, helping the Pythons to post the best record in DSFL history at 12-2 and storm into the playoffs. Skinner notched an additional two sacks in the playoff game and Ultimini V, where Portland avenged its first-round exit a season ago.

After his second season, Zach Skinner left the Pythons to join the NSFL squad that had picked him up, the Yellowknife Wraiths. He immediately earned a starting spot on the defensive line, but due to the presence of two established veteran studs in edge rushers Justin Tuck and Ricky Maddox, he was forced to bump inside to nose tackle, where he still produced decent numbers, 27 tackles and 4 sacks, both very good from that position, but only two tackles for a loss. In the playoffs, the Wraiths became NSFL champions, despite Skinners lackluster 3 tackles in their two games. With that, he was a champion two years in a row.

Going into his fourth professional season, and second as a Yellowknife Wraith, Skinner practically has a starting job at end, as Justin Tuck left for the New Orleans Second Line in free agency, leaving Skinner and Ricky Maddox as the top two defensive linemen on Yellowknife's roster. With this, as well as his productive offseason, Skinner was aiming for a much improved, and more productive, campaign. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to go his way. Skinner tallied 27 tackles, the same as the previous year, but set his NSFL career highs in tackles for loss (7) and an overall career high in sacks (5). It wasn't enough, though, to make the playoffs, or to improve upon the previous year enough for an NSFL pro bowl nod.

Because of the disappointing season, Skinner redoubled his efforts, going into the 2025 season in a frenzy. He wanted to make a name for himself in this league, and he planned on racking up double digit sacks for the first time since his days at the University of Tennessee. He struggled early on, as the Wraiths stumbled to a 1-3 opening month with their defensive end tallying only four total tackles, one for a loss.

Professional career statistics

Career statistics			Tackles	TFL	Sacks	Season	Games
2021 (S6)	POR	5	7	2	0	1	5
2022 (S7)	POR	14	31	12	4	2	14
2023 (S8)	YKW	14	27	2	4	3	14
2024 (S9)	YKW	14	27	7	5	3	14

Awards

Team

• Ultimini Champion (1): Ultimini 743 (2022 (S7))
• Ultimus Champion (1): Ultimus Bowl 8 (2023 (S8))