How did Trevor Penning do in his Saints debut?
By Kristen Wong
How did rookie Trevor Penning fare in his first New Orleans Saints game? Not bad, but not too great, either.
As to be expected, the Saints rolled out mostly backup players in their preseason opener against the Houston Texans. Second-stringer Andy Dalton and third-stringer Ian Book shared snaps at quarterback, working with a young and mostly unproven receiver rotation of Dai’Jean Dixon, Kawaan Baker, Easop Winston Jr., and others.
In the offensive line unit, veteran James Hurst started at left tackle, as he has been for the majority of training camp. All eyes were upon 2022 first-rounder Trevor Penning, though, when he stepped onto the field.
The Northern Iowa product enjoyed a solid first half but struggled a bit in the second half to contain the Texans’ pass-rush. Overall, Penning’s pass-protection could use more finetuning, and it’ll take at least a few more preseason games for Penning to get acclimated in the offensive line.
Trevor Penning gets beat with an inside move by Ogbonnia Okorokwo for a sack. That's been a bit of a weak spot for him throughout camp.
— Luke Johnson (@ByLukeJohnson) August 14, 2022
Saints' approach with 1st-round LT Trevor Penning has been that he needs to show quick development to earn the job away from veteran James Hurst -- because they like and trust Hurst.
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) August 14, 2022
Penning was coming along even faster than expected, but needs rapid improvement in next 2 games.
Saints need to be patient with rookie Trevor Penning’s development in 2022
At one point, the Saints fielded a offensive line consisting of Penning, Ethan Greenidge, Nick Martin, Calvin Throckmorton, and Landon Young. Of all the potential backups, Penning carried the highest expectations heading into the game, but his performance clearly showed he hasn’t yet grown into a starting-caliber role.
NOLA picked Penning as a developmental project back in April and knew there was a chance Penning wouldn’t be game-ready by Week 1 of 2022. The preseason matchup against Houston revealed as much, but those in Saints camp rightfully still are high on Penning and believe he will improve his pass-protection and learn from his mistakes in due time.
Trevor Penning is going to be fine. You can see the immense potential. You can also see why the Saints have James Hurst starting at left tackle right now.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) August 14, 2022
Next. Winners and losers from New Orleans Saints 2022 preseason opener. dark
Expect the Saints to keep playing Penning on the left side throughout preseason to make sure he gets the experience he needs in 2022.