Saints Penning presser: “If the guy across from you doesn’t hate you, you’re not doing your job!” (1 Viewer)

[kennydfresh]

Did anyone key in on James Hurst tonight? I did. Zero athleticism. He’s gonna get Winston decapitated.

We’ve got to live or die with Penning. We need him to get better fast.

Nah, I was fine with Hurst. It wasn't his best night, he did give up ground but he was what he needed to be on majority of his plays. Now Penning on the other hand was terrible, every flaw that I pointed out before the draft was on deck tonight. This is why in my mock draft I also saw him as a guard coming in(replacing Ruiz), getting comfortable, and then moving outside next year. Still two more preseason games to get better, so we'll see.

 

[UltraSaints]

I’m concerned. He isn’t suddenly going to get better in 2 preseason games against scrubs. He was never a solid pass blocker in college and I think people excuse this just because he’s aggressive. Being aggressive doesn’t replace talent. Time will tell but the sample size we have at the moment is bad. He was getting beaten by scrubs and this is a first round LT. Our SB hopes rely on Winston staying upright and healthy. I’m not hating on him, so don’t take this post the wrong way. But in a few weeks he’s going to be coming up against Defensive Ends a lot better than what we saw yesterday.

 

[Belfast Saint]

Again, there a misconception sometimes that being tough and nasty is a sufficient characteristic for an OL to be good. It isn't. It's icing on the cake. Sound fundamentals and technique, requisite athleticism, and intelligence are critical must haves.

Penning had a rough go. Looked pretty good on run plays, and was decent at times in pass pro. But he got beat with speed, then lost on the inevitable counter punch of an inside move, and it spiralled a little. He just needs to keep the head down, keep working, learn and develop.

 

[Eman5805]

Way too much panic. Let him learn. Let us see how our coaches use the film to teach. “He isn’t suddenly going to get better” is nonsense. It wouldn’t be sudden. It’ll be the accomplishment of hours and hours of study, instruction, and execution of technique.

 

[Belfast Saint]

Way too much panic. Let him learn. Let us see how our coaches use the film to teach. “He isn’t suddenly going to get better” is nonsense. It wouldn’t be sudden. It’ll be the accomplishment of hours and hours of study, instruction, and execution of technique.

That's pretty much it. Consistent, hard work to improve supported by good coaching. He's got a high ceiling but it's not a magical switch you can turn on to get there. Get a little bit better every day.

 

[limeyjohn]

Would like to see him take some snaps at Guard just to see how he does

 

[stbruce]

TCU Dan had a great analysis of Penning: liked his athleticism and attitude, but noted that his college coaching had been, frankly, terrible: Penning was getting by on superior strength against inferior competition, and he had never been taught even the fundamentals of how to play offensive tackle. So he clearly has a LOT to learn. But he has great coaches now, and he seems eager to learn, and Dan thought that he would ultimately do very well. He might not be ready to start early in the season, but -- again according to Dan -- Hurst is a capable left tackle, though not the pro bowl talent we lost; still, Hurst is more likely to stay healthy, and continuity on the offensive line is a very big deal. But I would like to hear more from TCU Dan (and from Belfast Saint? who also knows a great deal about offensive line play) following what was -- no doubt -- a very bad performance by Penning. My totally worthless opinion: Penning will be an excellent left tackle, but it will take a year; and Hurst will hold the fort until then.

 

[football]

Love his confidence. But remember he is a rookie. Our best offensive linemen ever never started out good. I don't expect him to be. I need to see him against some of the elite pass rusher out there. He hasn't even face Davenport yet. Real game is a different feel than practicing against each other in camp. Attitude means nothing if he don't master the skills necessary to play in the NFL. But he is getting there. Heard a lot of good things from his battle but he had some losing ones too.

Just to repost this. I wonder why some of you are surprised by this. I personally thought he did ok. Remember he is a rookie playing his first game. From here on out all he needs to do is improve each and every game. I do recall Terron being terrible is first game too.

 

[tim martin]

Hardest position to play. And yes a first rounder but not top 10 that are usually ready faster. If penning was a star he woulda went top 10. He needs work and will get it here

 

[dbridge]

Just to repost this. I wonder why some of you are surprised by this. I personally thought he did ok. Remember he is a rookie playing his first game. From here on out all he needs to do is improve each and every game. I do recall Terron being terrible is first game too.

If I recall correctly, Terron's first game was him being thrown into action against the Rams to replace a highly ineffective Charles Brown. He actually had a good game and was pencilled in as the starting LT from that point forward.

As for Penning, the kid has a long way to go. A first round pick getting schooled by second and third stringers is not encouraging. He has the attitude, size, and strength but lacks the technique and fundamentals.

 

[Houmaboy]

Way too much panic. Let him learn. Let us see how our coaches use the film to teach. “He isn’t suddenly going to get better” is nonsense. It wouldn’t be sudden. It’ll be the accomplishment of hours and hours of study, instruction, and execution of technique.

I concur!

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

I thought that given the level of competition, Penning was the night's biggest disappointment. I am not saying that based on one preseason game, a player from Northern Iowa is a bust or cannot one day be a good tackle. I am saying that with a first-round pick selected at number 19 at a position of need, much more was expected, and that regardless of what work Penning does over the next few months and how good our offensive-line coaching is, it is hard to see him playing left tackle at any point in the 2022 season. Last night, defensive ends who may not make the Houston roster were embarrassing Penning. I will note there is a Nick Underhill twitter comment that after re-watching the game, he thought Penning did well run-blocking. But at the moment, Hurst and Penning are on different levels.

 

[CantonLegend]

Penning played A LOT of snaps tonight, and while he looked terrible on the ones that we could see... he won more battles than he lost.

He'll get better, but there tonight was his official "Welcome to the NFL, rook" moment.

Thought he looked pretty good for his first nfl game. Looked a lot better going forward than backward. He was very fast on his reaches and turned his hips well

His pass blocking wasn’t as good. He got turned around a few times and got beat around the end but at least once was the qb not stepping up.

Not really sure what people saw differently than that

 

[football]

If I recall correctly, Terron's first game was him being thrown into action against the Rams to replace a highly ineffective Charles Brown. He actually had a good game and was pencilled in as the starting LT from that point forward.

As for Penning, the kid has a long way to go. A first round pick getting schooled by second and third stringers is not encouraging. He has the attitude, size, and strength but lacks the technique and fundamentals.

His first start was against Carolina. He struggled that game but after that he became the one best on the league.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

Armstead, who came from a small college program, was starting at the end of his rookie season.

I greatly hope that Penning shows improvement in the next two preseason games and that the concern expressed by me and others is overwrought and will prove wrong. But last night in pass protection, against second- and possibly third-unit players, he looked lost.