The New Orleans Saints need Trevor Penning to be great.
So far, no dice.
Those Saints took Penning in the first round of the 2022 draft in the hopes the offensive tackle could become a long-term fixture in the trenches, yet injuries tarnished his rookie year and things have yet to correct.
So much so, Saints training camp and preseason action this year have created more questions than answers. Head coach Dennis Allen even admitted that the third-year tackle’s technique was simply off at times during a very underwhelming preseason debut.
“There definitely was some — I saw some things that I haven’t necessarily seen out here every day of practice from a technique and fundamental standpoint,” Allen said, according to Matthew Paras of NOLA.com. “ ... I chalk it up to a first preseason game and let’s see how we improve from here.”
Paras’ own anecdotes from practice while Penning took first-team reps recently aren’t much better. Paras wrote that on Tuesday, Penning wound up “bullied in individual reps and struggled with pass protection during team drills” and struggled mightily with inside moves.
As always, disclaimers apply. Penning’s making the switch from left to right tackle undoubtedly contributed to the struggles.
But the fact it seems the Saints can’t wonder about a third-year leap from a first-round pick and instead have to worry about whether Penning is starting material at all is a huge red flag.
If Penning can’t work out on the right side, it blows up the long-term plan in the trenches while first-round rookie Taliese Fuaga develops at left tackle. And given the rebuilding state of the Saints right now, the size of such a setback would be far-reaching in nature.
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