When you select an offensive tackle in the first round of a draft, you are generally expecting that guy to start right away… or pretty close to it. The New Orleans Saints took Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning with the 19th overall pick in the 2022 draft. making him the fourth offensive tackle taken after Ikem Ekwonu (sixth to the Panthers). Evan Neal (seventh to the Giants), and Charles Cross (ninth to the Seahawks). All three of those players have much more starting experience against better competition, which gives Penning the look of a developmental prospect.
Penning was able to show his aggressive mindset at the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl, getting into various donnybrooks with all kinds of opponents with his bar-fighting style of play. As much as that impressed the general populace, there were also reps during the week of practice in Mobile, Alabama that had Penning out of sorts from a technical perspective.
Cleveland Browns uber-rusher Myles Garrett had something to say about that back in March.
Goodluck with that… https://t.co/5myUmNSFvl
— Myles Garrett (@Flash_Garrett) March 6, 2022
Around that same time, I did a series of tweets in which I investigated Penning’s play in actual games, and there was a lot to wonder about from a technical perspective.
Here’s one play with straight whiffs on two different defenders on a pull…
Woof. I dunno, man. pic.twitter.com/POSeulknT0
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 7, 2022
…here’s Penning passing the end to miss against the second-level defender…
I'm not sure what this is, but I'm pretty sure I don't like it. pic.twitter.com/ajfCqo1R6s
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 7, 2022
…here’s Penning missing at the second level again, and adding some after-play activity to emphasize whatever point he’s trying to make…
I'm not cherry-picking. This is bad rep after bad rep. He's going to have to rein it in and get under control in space. pic.twitter.com/2RONInZHfQ
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 8, 2022
…and here, he does show the one thing he could consistently do in pass pro. Maul people to the ground.
This is better, I guess. If you want to go full WWE, at least get your hands out there in a hurry so you can grapple. pic.twitter.com/wVeK6Ag3JC
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 8, 2022
Penning’s all-in wrestling personality extended itself to the Saints’ 2022 training camp.
#Saints rookie 1st round pick, OL Trevor Penning, has been kicked off OTAs on Wednesday after starting a fight at practice for 3 consecutive days.pic.twitter.com/ZYj5yMJcdg
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 3, 2022
New head coach Dennis Allen wasn’t exactly impressed.
.. fight @Saints camp ..gets rookie Trevor Penning and DT Malcolm Roach booted from practice .. here's what head coach Dennis Allen says about it #WGNOtv pic.twitter.com/MRlJ9A5ktB
— Ed Daniels (@WGNOsports) August 3, 2022
“We’ve got to get our work done,” Allen said. “We’ve got to learn as a team how to compete, and how to play, and how to practice, and push ourselves to the limit, yet not take it over the edge.
“We are in the third day in a row in practice,” Allen concluded. “People begin to get a little bit tired and things get a little bit chippy. It’s not unusual for something like that to occur during a training camp. It’s certainly something we don’t want to see happen. It’ll be addressed and we’ll move forward.”
But when the Saints and Texans squared off last Friday, all that stuff was out the window. It was Penning’s time to succeed or fail at the highest level of football on his own merits. In Houston’s 17-13 win over the Saints last Saturday, Penning played 57 snaps — 28 in passing situations, and 29 in rushing situations. So, it was a good overall heat check on where Penning is as a player. He allowed a sack, a quarterback hit, and three quarterback hurries, and while his run-blocking was generally sound (that’s never really been a problem, the pass-blocking issues aligned on tape with what Pro Football Focus’ charting told you.
“I mean, it was good to get out there and play an actual NFL game,” Penning said after. “I felt like there were… there’s moments I definitely need to clean up for sure. That comes with time and reps in it. So, I’ll go back in on Monday, watch the film, and learn from it.”
“They played pretty base,” Penning said of the Texans. “There were a couple of stunts that were a little different than what I was expecting, but for the most part, it was kind of base.”
The Saints face the Packers in Green Bay on Friday, August 19, and there will be some joint practices beforehand. Penning said that he’s looking forward to going up against some different defenders with different techniques in practice and in the game.
It will be a learning experience for Penning, and it won’t all come together immediately, but let’s take a closer look at where Penning is as a blind-side blocker based on his first NFL action.
Penning needs to use his hands to control the defender through the play.
Me saying that about Penning’s hand usage and technique is not me trying to look like an offensive line guru — I am anything but. The need to get your hands out in pass protection on a consistent basis was told to me by Hall of Famer Walter Jones, one of the best left tackles ever to play the game, when I watched tape with him a few years back.
“You’ve got to make it a longer distance to get to the quarterback,” Jones told me. “You’ve got to get to a point where you turn [the defender]; you don’t let him turn you.”
Getting your hands out as you’re moving through the arc obviously creates a wider and less condensed base from which to attack a blocker, and it’s easier to establish your own play personality when you latch onto a defender before you get latched.
Considering Penning’s aggressive personality, I was surprised to see that he’s pretty inconsistent with his hands. He will let opponents into his kitchen when he could prevent that by setting things up.
The Saints ran a lot of boot right stuff in their passing game against the Texans, which took the quarterback away from Penning’s side. I dare say that if the idea was to keep the quarterback in the pocket, Penning’s pressure numbers might have been worse. On this rep with 4:52 left in the first quarter, Penning had to contend with edge-rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, who attacked quickly to the inside from a wide base. The boot out of run-action kept quarterback Ian Book clean, but watch how Penning lets Okoronkwo around him — he’s not using his hands to further displace Okoronkwo, and he’s already got the slide in his favor. Getting his hands out with purpose could have quickly ended the rep.
On this Book interception later in the first quarter, watch how Penning gets his hands out to attack and displace end Rasheem Green. This is what you want (well, without the interception part).
Penning's desire to dominate shows up in the run game.
There were times against the Texans where Penning channeled his extracurricular tendencies, and it made for some nice reps when the Saints ran the ball. On this seven-yard run in the second quarter by Tony Jones Jr., Penning worked inside to take on defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, using his strength and momentum to take Blacklock out of the play. In this case, the “bury move” against Blacklock wasn’t a problem, because it came at the end of a quality snap. You want to get all chippy then, go right ahead.
And on this eight-yard Jones run near the end of the first half, Penning does a great job of adjusting his body to get defensive tackle Derek Rivers, sealing the edge for Jones with strength and economy of motion.
Penning must learn to diagnose different pass-rushing moves.
The sack Penning allowed came with 43 seconds left in the first half. He was up against Okoronkwo again, and it was a bit distressing how easily Okoronkwo was able to level him with an inside move. Penning seemed to have no answer for it.
Playing too quickly and too slowly at the same time.
There are times in pass pro where Penning could be quicker off the snap to get himself in position to block. When he’s late to the party, his technical limitations come into sharper focus.
When Penning is quicker off the snap, he’s able to get his lower body going, and his upper body will follow.
Penning needs a plan.
Former NFL offensive lineman and current analyst Geoff Schwartz had his own look at Penning’s first NFL game, and as usual, I think Geoff’s on the mark here.
Finished w/Penning film. No penalties from being over aggressive. Weird. 🙄. Anyways …
Run game was good as expected.
Pass pro struggled in 3 specific reps.
He’s playing too fast. Doesn’t have a plan yet. When he takes a more controlled pass set and punches he’s fine.— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 15, 2022
The question is, do you want a guy protecting your quarterback’s blind side who has this much to work on? Do you want a guy out there who doesn’t quite have a plan yet? This is not to bash Penning as a player; it’s merely to say that Penning’s developmental curve is steep, and he’ll have to do a lot of learning on the field.
That process has already started, and the Saints’ regular-season opener against the Falcons is right around the corner on Sunday, September 11. Penning has this week against the Packers, and next week against the Chargers, and that’s it before all the lights come on. Every collegiate offensive lineman has some things to develop and clean up in the transition to the NFL, but there’s a lot to ask in a short time in this case.
Trevor Penning’s plan will hopefully come together sooner than later.
