By CJ Carlson
Trevor Penning has been a big swing and a miss so far for the New Orleans Saints on the offensive line. The team traded up in the 2022 NFL Draft to select the offensive tackle and to put it bluntly, he hasn’t been close to what they envisioned him to be.
Trevor Penning Hasn’t Lived Up To Expectations
Penning was supposed to be either the successor to All-Pro tackle Ryan Ramczyk, or the starter on the other end and solidify the left tackle position for years to come. He’s done neither of those things so far. Penning suffered injuries early on in his career and with the action he saw last season, he didn’t show much promise.
The entire fan base and the coaching staff know that this is a make-or-break year for Penning. In all honesty, his development can dramatically change how their upcoming season plays out. If he performs well, the offensive line will be respectable enough to get some offensive rhythm. If he continues to underwhelm, then this offense will look nearly identical to last season.
Now that the groundwork has been laid out, let’s get into the recent news. Penning started against the Arizona Cardinals in the team’s first preseason action this season. He was going up against the Cardinals’ second and third-string defenders, and well, he didn’t show much development once again. Penning was consistently singled out for getting beaten on multiple occasions.
He allowed numerous pressures and had no answer for any form of speed-rushing technique that was thrown his way. To make matters worse, three players stood out. The first was when he was knocked to the ground by Jesse Luketa early on in the game, followed by the time that a smaller pass rusher nearly threw him backward into Derek Carr, and the third was when Tyreke Smith blew past Penning without any type of contact being made.
The Offensive Line Has Problems
Yes, there are two more preseason games, and some practices left before the season begins, but there has just been zero improvement from his rookie season to now. In his first two seasons, he played only six games because of those aforementioned injuries and in that time span, he got penalized seven times with four sacks allowed.
Penning is clearly not the answer on the offensive line, and the team will need to look elsewhere to improve. Luckily, they have at least three solid positions on that offensive line. Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and newly drafted Taliese Fuaga all looked good on the offensive line. It’s great to have them, and yet scary at the same time because the team doesn’t have any depth underneath them.
If New Orleans loses any of those three, they would have at least three vulnerable positions on the offensive line at any given time, and that’s no way to win a football game. The offensive line is the biggest point of contention for the Saints in 2024, and the Penning situation is the reason why.