Oli Udoh got 1st team snaps at Right Tackle; Allen: “LG & RT are still open. Penning is progressing but Udoh will get a look at RT.”
Isn't that normal for someone with only 6 starts?
And bad coaching up until this year.
Doesn't seem to be an issue for Fuaga or apparently Hergel.
I'm pulling for Penning because he's a Saint, we spent a 1st round pick on him, and he's a human being. But lets not pretend that this is all the fault of someone other than Penning.
Whether you think Marrone is a good coach or not, he had a hand in developing Bushrod, Nicks, Evans, Stinchcomb, and I think Strief. The game may have passed him by and he may not be the right coach for Pennin,g and isn't the right coach for an outside zone scheme, but he's not the worst OL coach in the world. Plus, there were assistant OL coaches, his college coaches, and guys Penning worked with in the offseason including Duke Mannyweather who runs OL Masterminds and said that penning was not using the technique he was taught.
I think it's mental with Penning. He has all the physical tools and has been taught the correct techniques. He's just not consistently using them when he is on the field in games. That needs to change quickly and while he only has 6 starts (and some preseason starts), lots of guys including Fuaga, get it much earlier than that and his level of struggle is rare for a starting Tackle in the NFL. It's not that he's showing rust or that he's not picking up thinks like stunts and twists. His issues are very basic things like not anchoring, not bending his knees, etc. It's the kinds of things he should already know when he got here and that he certainly should have learned in 2 years no matter how many starts he has.
So, in the end, I'm pulling for him and he showed some progress last week, but it's not all about only having 6 starts or the coaching he has received. At this point, the majority of this is on Penning to use the technique he was taught so that his athletic skills can be seen on the field.