The New Orleans Saints were on a bye this past weekend but that doesn't mean that Saints fans didn't have any football to preoccupy themselves with. One game that might have piqued fans' interests was the game between the Chargers and Jaguars, which was on in the early window of games.
This game might have been of interest for Saints fans because a former Saints player got to take the field for the first time with the Chargers. I'm talking, of course, about Trevor Penning, the Saints' former first-round pick from the 2022 draft.
Somehow, someway, the Saints were able to offload Penning on the Chargers, who were desperate to add offensive tackle help due to the injuries to their two starters, Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. Saints fans knew all too well that Penning was not going to be the guy the Chargers were hoping for, and, lo and behold, he was atrocious in his Chargers debut.
Penning had the worst PFF grade of any Chargers player in the team's blowout loss to Jacksonville, sitting with a 46.3 grade. Oof. Saints fans aren't surprised, however.
Trevor Penning was painfully bad in his Chargers debut
The Saints drafted Penning in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, hoping that he could be one of their future bookends on the offensive line. That obviously didn't happen, as the former Northern Iowa product played three different spots on the line, including both tackle positions and then finally at left guard before realizing he wasn't going to be an impactful player for them.
That's why when the Saints were able to ship Penning off to another team, they jumped at the chance. He's now someone else's problem and Saints fans can sit back and laugh that another team thought he might be the answer to their problems.
To be fair, there is still time for Penning to potentially learn and become a better player in Los Angeles than he was in New Orleans but Saints fans aren't holding their breath on that happening. If the Chargers thought he was going to be an upgrade over the backups they had, they've likely figured out why the Saints were so willing to get rid of him.
Have fun with that, Chargers fans.