Trevor Penning will work at LT and RT during OTAs (OTA update: Penning moved to RT) (3 Viewers)

[SonOfNOLA]

Essentially, Fuaga would become the LT for 2024 if he looks the most consistent and comfortable there during OTAs. If Penning can be firmly average, he has an opportunity to become the starting LT. It looks like both players’ LT reps at OTAs will be evaluated against one another. Its possibly Penning’s spot to lose, but they’ll have a fallback plan in place if Penning doesn’t look up to par at LT. If TP can’t cut it at LT during OTAs, compared to Fuaga’s reps, then he has to look decent at RT or the door is likely closed on him being a starting OL in the Saints offense.


Excerpt from article:
“…
The reality is even a little heavier here. Assuming Ryan Ramczyk cannot play this season, the Saints presumably have one good tackle (Fuaga) and a bunch of maybes. So, the question becomes: Where do you want a potentially iffy player lining up? …

…. .. Trevor Penning is going to get work at both tackle spots through organized team activities, and the team will find out what he’s capable of. .... “

 

[football]

Honestly I really want Penning to improve and win that job. Who knows...he might surprise us and be the guy we hope he can be. I am really concern because needs someone in that right side since Ryan doesn't look like he will play this year or ever.

 

[SonOfNOLA]

Honestly I really want Penning to improve and win that job. Who knows...he might surprise us and be the guy we hope he can be. I am really concern because needs someone in that right side since Ryan doesn't look like he will play this year or ever.

If Penning looks like he has it figured out, it’ll be easy to put Fuaga back at starting RT where he was drafted for. That’s the best case scenario for no holes at OT. Otherwise, we’re looking at Landon Young or Oli Udoh starting at RT. Not good but they aren’t terrible RT options.

Saldiveri is expected to primarily get reps at LG according to Nick, even though he could be the second best talent at RT. I think Carr could handle either Young or Udoh starting at RT since the scheme will help him maneuver away from pressure brought from the right side. Coaches will prepare his release accordingly.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

Honestly I really want Penning to improve and win that job. Who knows...he might surprise us and be the guy we hope he can be. I am really concern because needs someone in that right side since Ryan doesn't look like he will play this year or ever.

Hopefully we all want that as it would be best for the team. I'm hoping as well but I think his confidence is totally shot.

 

[BelowZero]

Hopefully we all want that as it would be best for the team. I'm hoping as well but I think his confidence is totally shot.

All signs point to the team still believing in him as he's going to be given every chance to earn that role back. That should be confidence enough (though I recall Nick talking about Wirfs and a team psychologist in a recent NOF show. Might not be the worst idea for Penning.). Everyone knows that last season wasn't his fault. Bad offense, bad scheme, bad playcalling. It wasn't just him that had a low season.

Either way, if he can't show signs of improvement with a scheme that's OL friendly, with a ton of experience at coaching in this scheme (and Duke), in an offense that's built for his style of play (run-first), then I think he's probably a lost cause for any team.

 

[solarbear88]

Seems like they are wasting a lot of valuable practice time messing about with no plan. Typical of a team with a bad head coach.

 

[Plow]

Its possibly Penning’s spot to lose, but they’ll have a fallback plan in place if Penning doesn’t look up to par at LT.

A less optimistic view is that Penning lost the LT spot last season and has to win it back or move. Good luck if he's going up against Fuaga.

 

[Swampy Saint]

Seems like they are wasting a lot of valuable practice time messing about with no plan. Typical of a team with a bad head coach.

It's old, man.
Give it a rest.

 

[los226]

I have confidence that they’ll get the OL figured out with Dennison in the building. Coaching makes a huge difference there. The Vikings OL was horrible the year prior to him getting there, was void of talent, and somehow he had that group playing much better once he was coaching the unit.

Another example is Aaron Kromer. Wherever he goes he has the OL playing well right away no matter who was on the roster or how poorly they played the prior season. He even had journeyman Brian De La Puente playing center for the Saints OL for many games with not much of a problem.

 

[livefromDC]

A less optimistic view is that Penning lost the LT spot last season and has to win it back or move. Good luck if he's going up against Fuaga.

I think that's the realistic view. If it were Penning's spot, Fuaga wouldn't be trying out on the left side. If it were Willie Roaf or even Terron Armstead on the left side, he'd be working out purely at RT. That's just reality. We're not hearing any semblance of this occurring at right guard or center despite Ruiz likely playing out of position. He's still good enough at right guard that the spot is his. The staff recognizes that's not true for Penning. So while it's not his to lose, he's being given a chance to earn a spot at left tackle or right tackle. That's the reality. I hope wins the spot, but it's currently not his.

The Saints are doing the smart thing. With no clear cut veteran to play left tackle (or left guard and right tackle), we're going to see players trying out all over the place until they find the best player to play each position. Contrary to a view expressed by someone in this thread, that's exactly how they should be doing it. I only wish it extended to center and right guard.

 

[saint_drago]

It's easy to be pessimistic about Trevor Penning right now. He hasn't shown us much to be excited about. But instead of wallowing in despair, I'm going to try something a little more difficult. I'm going to be optimistic. So I'll offer a few rays of sunshine to consider.

I can't help but think that better O line coaching will help Penning. My hope is that John Benton and Rick Dennison are able to get the most out of Penning. Help him unlock his vast potential. There's that P word, potential. Penning still has it. A lot of it. He still has everything the Saints saw in him to draft him in the 1st round. He has some tools and hopefully Benton & Dennison show him how to use them.

Another reason for hope is the fact that Penning will be able to start fresh in a new offense, specifically a new run blocking scheme. We'll just have to wait and see when it comes to pass protection but I think he might be pretty solid in the run game.

I'm not going to give up hope just yet. I'll get back with you in October.

 

[SWJJ]

I don't subscribe to NOF, but don't I recall a thread about one of Nick's articles that Penning had been working out with a well renown offensive line guru and the Saints were impressed with his progress?

 

[rsmith2783]

Can he play Guard?

 

[tim martin]

Honestly I really want Penning to improve and win that job. Who knows...he might surprise us and be the guy we hope he can be. I am really concern because needs someone in that right side since Ryan doesn't look like he will play this year or ever.

i really just want to see him win any job. tackle or guard so he’s not a bust

 

[SWJJ]

Can he play Guard?

Some of us have been saying he needs to play guard since he first got here.