I mean, sure, but there exist some recipes where the inclusion of a thick potato skin is not appropriate, and a russet potato ought be peeled if that is the var

I mean, sure, but there exist some recipes where the inclusion of a thick potato skin is not appropriate, and a russet potato ought be peeled if that is the variety of potato being used. A thin-skinned potato like the idaho gold can sometimes be used in these recipes without peeling. The russet skin would of course not render the dish inedible, but the final result would be much more different than what the recipe was trying to achieve. "Need" here means "required to yield desired final product" not "necessary or else you'll die".