What can the New Orleans Saints do to help Trevor Penning? That’s a major question that general manager Mickey Loomis must grapple with in the days and weeks ahead, and he says the team has a responsibility to do right by the young player.
“It’s an important offseason for him,” Loomis told WWL Radio’s Jeff Nowak. “We’ve got to put him in a situation to be successful. We’ve got to help him with his development, his confidence. He’s got the ability to be a really good player in our league, but we’ve got to enable that by putting him in the right environment, giving the right development, and we’ll do that.”
We’re only reading the tea leaves here, but that doesn’t sound like a bright endorsement for offensive line coach Doug Marrone or his assistants Jahri Evans and Kevin Carberry. Evans is someone players like right guard Cesar Ruiz have pointed to as a positive influence, but the line as a whole has regressed since Marrone took over two seasons ago.
If Loomis doesn’t feel that Marrone (and either, or both, of his assistants) is the right coach to develop Penning and other young linemen the team has drafted, a change makes sense. That sure seems to be what he’s suggesting.
But it’s possible the Saints could look at moving Penning to a different — and hopefully more advantageous — position. Could he slide inside to guard? It’s not something he’s done much of before and his flaws might be highlighted there. Penning struggles with leverage and getting to his marks out in space, both of which stem from his choppy feet. For someone who is such a gifted athlete he doesn’t have a great efficiency of movement. Asking him to pull and block on the move more often isn’t something he’s suited to right now.
Of course that could change. At this point the Saints need to see something — anything — from Penning to justify what they paid to acquire him. Multiple picks in the top two rounds were spent on getting a player Loomis hoped could contribute right away. Obviously things haven’t gone as hoped or expected for Penning so far, but he has time to turn it around. Maybe moving to a new position or changing his position coach (changing the environment, as Loomis said) could help him come into his own in the NFL.
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