The big difference is the level of competition that Fuaga & Hergel went against in College.
The played at Power 5 Conferences... much more NFL ready competition.
It was always going to take Penning longer to adjust to the NFL.
I get that and I agree. I am willing to give Penning some more time. But, at this point he's had over two years and went to the best offseason O-Line camp in the country. Despite that, he is still not doing very basic things. So, I'm just not comfortable counting on him to start at RT because if he plays like he did in the first preseason game, it could be the thing that sinks this season. IF he continues to improve week over week like he did between week 1 and week 2, he might be serviceable by the start of the season and solid by mid-season, but I think they have to see if Udoh is better. Kubiak can likely work to get Penning help with chips, roll outs, etc., but it would limit what we can do on offense and at some point you just have to have a guy that can protect the QB on a standard drop back without help.
I'm willing to give him more time because he didn't quit after week 1 of preseason and even showed improvement. But, I do think they need to see if Udoh is better because I don't think Penning is yet ready. They should have brought in a solid starting RT in free agency to compete with Penning and take the pressure off of him to start. But that ship has long since sailed.