Bright side to the year: Trevor Penning (2 Viewers)

[BreesusSaves]

He showed improvement but if BPA is an Offensive Tackle the Saints should draft the Offensive Tackle.

 

[Rouxble]

I like the dogg in him. I don't like the salary he will soon command.

It's something to think about. We need to decide on his fifth-year option this offseason, it should be close to a one-year $20m guaranteed extension. My guess is we pass on it and let him play out his contract year. For all the talk about his improvement, I don't think anyone would commit to paying him that kind of money based on what we've seen so far.

 

[Saint KayBee]

I remember thinking that Matthew Paras unfairly isolated him in a clip he posted of Penning losing a rep in a 1-on-1 drill - and the entire world tried to convince me I saw it wrong and that Penning would be worst individual starter in the NFL.

I may have been wrong about Paras’ intentions but I think we learned over the course of the season that the backlash was overwhelmingly unwarranted.

 

[SaintKenKen]

+1 OP

Was thinking the same thing this morning on "Silver linings". We went into this year thinking he'd be the weak spot and a train wreck. He wasn't a train wreck and we found so many more weak spots that Tackle seems like a strength (comparatively).

 

[The Unrest Cure]

The real bright side of the year, was the signing of our WR coach. Keith Williams did a bang up job (no pun intended) despite the litany of injuries.

I think he did a laudable job getting a thrown-together group of players - all of which have had some NFL experience, some more than others - to play on a professional level. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of his work with the core early-season group of players (Olave, Shaheed, Means, Tipton) as injuries ruled out the top 3 and Tipton evidently was not suited to playing snaps over the last several games. His worth won't be measured by how he gets the replacement players to play, but how he gets the top-end talent to play ... provided they ever play.

Tipton was an undrafted FA rookie, so not much was expected of him. There are concerns that he was a healthy scratch while retreads like Wilson got out there (assumedly on the strength of Cedrick's ability to run block). But to see the end of the game yesterday devolve into 2 WR/2 TE sets - in which Holker was out there - was frankly a statement about the WRs. Or maybe the TEs. Or maybe the OL. Hell, maybe the QB ; 0

 

[Goatman Saint]

I thought he did well all things considered. He played almost every down and did what needed to be done. The fact he lead in pressures I can see, but at the same time with the lack of WR talent as the season went on, and the situation at QB, there was going to be pressure as the QBs had to hold onto the ball longer. So, good job to him, and hope he continues to improve

 

[Patman255]

He also proved he could stay healthy, in a year where most of our offensive linemen could not.

Honestly, I'd rather us consider signing him to a cheap extension and committing to the idea that he's the RT of the future while his stock remains low but up trending. He was not a great pass protector, but he has upside and wasn't a complete liability either. Remember in 2009 when Bushrod got taken to town by the Cowboys and Ware? I don't recall a game this season where Penning got whipped that badly, and Bushrod turned out to be a key piece for us.

 

[Elvis]

The only reason our hair wasn't on fire about Penning is because the entire interior line played worse than he did and defenses were blowing through guards instead of targeting his side. So he improved to the point of not being worse than 2nd and 3rd string lineman. I guess you call it a bright side but it just exposes how poor the line played all season.

 

[Saint KayBee]

He also proved he could stay healthy, in a year where most of our offensive linemen could not.

Honestly, I'd rather us consider signing him to a cheap extension and committing to the idea that he's the RT of the future while his stock remains low but up trending. He was not a great pass protector, but he has upside and wasn't a complete liability either. Remember in 2009 when Bushrod got taken to town by the Cowboys and Ware? I don't recall a game this season where Penning got whipped that badly, and Bushrod turned out to be a key piece for us.

They talked about Bushrod horribly in the XLIV pregame. I remember one media person (can’t remember which) saying he might be the single worst NFL player to start in a Super Bowl. He wound up having a great game and a really good run for us. Fantastic human, too.

 

[Snakehead]

They talked about Bushrod horribly in the XLIV pregame. I remember one media person (can’t remember which) saying he might be the single worst NFL player to start in a Super Bowl. He wound up having a great game and a really good run for us. Fantastic human, too.

Bushrod used to get destroyed on here.

 

[Patman255]

The whole narrative leading up to the SB was that Freeney was going to demolish Bushrod on the way to a Colts victory.

Freeney got one sack, and it was their team's only sack. Bushrod held his own.

 

[Wheelo]

I love that he improved, but if Will Campbell is there at 9, you draft him and move Fuaga back to RT... without hesitation.

 

[MikeyF]

The only reason our hair wasn't on fire about Penning is because the entire interior line played worse than he did and defenses were blowing through guards instead of targeting his side. So he improved to the point of not being worse than 2nd and 3rd string lineman. I guess you call it a bright side but it just exposes how poor the line played all season.

Ruiz & Patrick aren't 2nd & 3rd string Gs...
Our line didn't play poorly all year... Our Gs all year & backup C the first few games after McCoy's injury played poorly.

QB's don't have a chance to read downfield when they get immediately rushed from the middle of the line.
This happened all the time after the first 2 games.

 

[BayouSAINTJoe]

The only reason our hair wasn't on fire about Penning is because the entire interior line played worse than he did and defenses were blowing through guards instead of targeting his side. So he improved to the point of not being worse than 2nd and 3rd string lineman. I guess you call it a bright side but it just exposes how poor the line played all season.

He was no longer the path of least resistance...I feel you