New Orleans Saints find Terron Armstead replacement in mock draft
The New Orleans Saints lost Terron Armstead this offseason and need to use the draft as a way to find his replacement. Cynthia Frelund of NFL.com has the black and gold doing just that in her mock draft, linking Trevor Penning to the Saints at pick No. 18.
Here’s the analysis Frelund offered on why she paired the Saints with Penning:
"This past season, Penning posted the highest run-blocking grade ever charted by Pro Football Focus (going back to 2014 for college grading), though it should be noted that it primarily came against FCS competition. With Terron Armstead now a Dolphin, Penning would be a Day 1 starter for New Orleans, manning the blind side opposite special bookend Ryan Ramczyk."
Despite playing left tackle, Penning is probably better suited for the right side of the line, at least that’s where The Draft Network projects his ideal role to be, but this is still a move the Saints could make.
Armstead was the left tackle in New Orleans for nearly a decade and it won’t be easy to replace him. Yes, they could move Ryan Ramczyk to the left side and then slide Penning or whoever into the right tackle spot, but Penning has experience at left tackle.
New Orleans Saints paired with Trevor Penning in mock draft
A big knock on Penning is that he played at a smaller school but I don’t think that should be a big worry for teams. The Saints of all teams should know not to rule out small-school prospects, as Armstead hailed from Arkansas Pine Bluff, which isn’t exactly a powerhouse.
At this point, it feels pretty evident that NOLA is either going to go with an offensive lineman or a wide receiver in the first round and fans would be fine with either. If a solid o-lineman is available in the middle of the first round, it might be hard to pass on one of them when this receiver class is pretty loaded with talent.
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