Tag: Trevor Penning

Darren Rizzi highlights battle in the trenches for Saints vs. Giants

Darren Rizzi knows stopping Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns is imperative. Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning must rise to the occasion:

A lot of pressure rests on the New Orleans Saints’ young offensive tackles as they take on the New York Giants’ duo of Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns on the edges.

Interim head coach Darren Rizzi understands the importance of Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning protecting Derek Carr in Week 14. Rizzi told the media earlier this week, “We got to do a great job of protecting the edge this week. That’s going to be a big part of what we do.”

Rizzi continued: “They have two playmakers on the edges between Burns and Thibodeaux. We’ve known Burns in this division for a long, long time. He’s wrecked a lot of games for people. They just got Thib back on the other side. Those guys are a problem.”

For Fuaga, this continues a stretch of facing formidable pass rushers. He’s stood up to Myles Garrett, Jared Verse and now this duo in consecutive weeks, with a bye week in that span. Penning struggled against the Rams as Verse racked up a multitude of pressures. The offensive tackle is looking to bounce back.

As for the offensive interior? The Saints are hoping to get several starters back from injury, including Erik McCoy and Lucas Patrick, but that’s where the Giants may be weakest up front. A potentially season-ending injury to Dexter Lawrence puts the focus concretely on New York’s edge defenders. Fuaga and Penning must be on point this Sunday.

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Trevor Penning was PFF’s top-rated offensive tackle this week

Trevor Penning was PFF’s top-rated offensive tackle this week. He isn’t a finished product just yet, but he’s trending in the right direction:

Trevor Penning just might make it. The New Orleans Saints right tackle was recognized as the highest-rated blocker of Week 10 at Pro Football Focus, with a 92.8 PFF player grade.

That’s impressive even with the subjective cautions that come with PFF grades. Penning had the league’s highest grade as a run blocker (4.7) and he was charged with allowing just one pressure on 27 snaps in pass protection. He’s really coming into his own after moving to the right side, even if he isn’t a finished project just yet.

He just needs to keep stacking good days and good games like this. The best thing you can say about an offensive tackle is how little you hear about him  on game days, and to his credit Penning has mostly stayed out of the spotlight by cleaning up his mistakes. Outside of a few poorly-timed penalties, anyway. Let’s see if he can keep it up.

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NFL Next Gen Stats: Falcons defense had a season-high pressure rate vs. Saints

NFL Next Gen Stats found the Falcons defense had a season-high pressure rate against the Saints, even though Derek Carr had his fastest windup to throw this year:

Everyone knew the New Orleans Saints offensive line was going to be at a disadvantage against the Atlanta Falcons. They were working without two injured starters in Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz, and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak tried to coach around those absences by speeding up Derek Carr’s windup. It worked, for a time, but ultimately the backups blocking for him fell apart.

Here’s what Week 4’s newsletter from NFL Next Gen Stats and Zebra Technologies had to say about the game:

“The Falcons defense generated a season-high 28.9% pressure rate despite Derek Carr averaging just 2.39 seconds to throw. Entering Sunday, the Falcons generated pressure on only 20.0% of dropbacks, the lowest rate in the NFL.”

Carr averaged 2.64 seconds to throw in Week 3, 2.81 seconds in Week 2, and 2.83 seconds in Week 1. So he was taking the snap, dropping back, reading the field and winding up to throw almost half a second faster in Week 4 than in the season opener. No wonder he wasn’t able to get off his first or second read very often.

Everyone’s hands are dirty here. Carr needs to both make better decisions with the ball and throw better passes, even if he’s facing more pressure than usual. That’s why he’s paid the big bucks. At the same time his offensive line needs to do a better job keeping him clean, even if guys like Shane Lemieux and Landon Young are normally spectators on gameday, not starters. And inexperienced starters like Trevor Penning must keep improving, too. The unit did some things well as a whole on Sunday. Connecting those positive moments and sustaining success is going to be their challenge moving forward.

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Trevor Penning fined $11,255 for unnecessary roughness vs. Eagles

Trevor Penning was fined $11,255 for unnecessary roughness against the Eagles. The Saints’ right tackle fell back into bad habits, and it cost him:

It wasn’t enough for Trevor Penning to cost his team 15 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles. The NFL came calling with an $11,255 fine for unnecessary roughness after he drove Eagles cornerback Darius Slay out of bounds and into the New Orleans Saints’ bench.

This was the kind of play Penning was criticized for coming out of college, and he had done a good job avoiding them after turning pro. But this was an instance where he fell back into bad habits. It was a dumb play that injured Slay, and bowled over one of Penning’s coaches who couldn’t get out of the way in time on the sideline. And it ended up costing him.

You want guys to play to the whistle, and right tackles like Penning are often tasked with setting that tone. But there’s a time to dial it back. In this case it’s the moment when Penning’s coaches are waving and shouting at him to back off before crashing into the bench.

As for the football impact? This penalty wiped out a 5-yard run that converted a 3rd-and-4, moving the ball from the Philadelphia 39-yard line back into New Orleans territory at their own 46. It took a big effort from Penning’s teammates to keep the drive alive and end it with a touchdown,  but it would’ve been much easier if he hadn’t lost his cool.

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Saints could play Falcons without all five of last year’s offensive line starters

There’s been turnover along the Saints’ offensive line. Now Cesar Ruiz has a knee injury, and if he can’t go all five of last year’s starters will be out on Sunday:

This is worth watching. Right guard Cesar Ruiz missed Wednesday’s New Orleans Saints practice with what head coach Dennis Allen said was a knee injury. And as Nola.com’s Rod Walker noted, if Ruiz can’t play on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, the Saints will be without all five of their starters from last year’s offensive line.

Center Erik McCoy is going on injured reserve with a groin injury. Last season’s left tackle, Andrus Peat, is currently playing for the Las Vegas Raiders. The left guard will either be Oli Udoh, Landon  Young, or Nick Saldiveri, none of whom played many snaps there on last year’s team. Ruiz’s replacement at right guard would be anyone’s guess. And right tackle Trevor Penning was benched last season after initially playing left tackle.

Some turnover was needed given how poorly the Saints’ offensive line performed a year ago, but this is excessive. Being down one starter is bad enough; that it’s McCoy, the unit’s best player, getting sidelined for six to eight weeks is even worse. Working without Ruiz as well would only exacerbate their problems.

We’ll watch out for updates carefully throughout the week. Ruiz was able to play through his knee issue last Sunday but that may not be the case for him in their next game. Hopefully he’s able to go and do a better job slowing down the Falcons than we saw last week against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Erik McCoy injury would be a ‘red button’ type of loss for Saints

Erik McCoy was injured against the Philadelphia Eagles. Concern for the offensive line is on red alert for any time that he misses:

Games early in the season always tend to result in some sort of overreaction, however, I don’t think it would be reactionary at all to say the New Orleans Saints offensive line would be in huge trouble if Erik McCoy had to miss some time.

Facing a player like Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter exacerbated the issue, but it went deeper than that. There was a point where Cesar Ruiz and Oli Udoh ran into each other in the backfield. Think Jordan Howden and Marshon Lattimore colliding on Dallas Goedert’s field-flipping catch, but as offensive linemen.

McCoy is the leader of the unit and you can’t help but think those plays don’t happen with him there. It’s a trickle down effect with his absence. Lucas Patrick moves to center, and now you’ve downgraded at center and left guard. Ruiz looked bad too, but that could reasonably change. Udoh performed too poorly to receive the benefit of the doubt.

So McCoy missing pretty much the entirety of the game showed he may be one of the five most important players on this team. He’s their best offensive linemen and the glue holding the rest of the unit together.

The interior of the offensive line is dramatically worse without him. It may not disrupt the offense as much as it did in Week 3, but it will have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the offense.

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Taliese Fuaga crowned as the NFL’s best rookie through two weeks

Taliese Fuaga went against Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence in Week 2. His performance earned him the top spot in B/R’s rookie rankings

New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga now sits at the top of Bleacher Report’s rookie rankings after being at second place a week ago behind Xavier Worthy. He earns this distinction after battling Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence in the Saints’ victory over the Dallas Cowboys

The list varies week by week, but this is a composite ranking rather than who was the best that particular week. However, because it’s early in the season, fluctuation is greater. Worthy was at the top of the list after Week 1, and now he’s out of the top-10 due to usage questions.

Fuaga doesn’t have those questions. He will be lined up at left tackle for every snap when healthy. That was the question heading into the game. Fuaga was a game-time decision due to back tightness.

The team decided he was good to go, and he delivered an impressive performance. Like many Saints players, this was Fuaga’s chance to prove it wasn’t just the Carolina Panthers. He didn’t allow a single pressure all game which includes snaps versus Parsons and Lawrence. You wouldn’t even be able to tell he missed multiple practices.

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Alvin Kamara excelling despite facing second-most loaded boxes

Defenses are selling out to stop Alvin Kamara and it isn’t working anyway. This is a testament to his offensive line:


Here’s an impressive New Orleans Saints stat for you. Alvin Kamara has ran for the sixth-most yards on the ground in the NFL and scored the most touchdowns despite seeing the second-most attempts with eight or more defenders in the box.

Defenses load up the box specifically to stop the run, and it happens 45% of the time when Kamara carries the ball. Everyone knows what the Saints want to do, but this tactic hasn’t been effective in stopping the Kamara.

Why? Taliese Fuaga, Lucas Patrick, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Trevor Penning are five reasons. The impact of the unit is seen through the near three yards before contact per carry against the Carolina Panthers by all Saints running backs.

You don’t beat heavy boxes purely on the strength of your running back. Kamara has phenomenal contact balance, but even with that he can’t consistently beat the odds by himself.

The front line is doing a good job resetting the line of scrimmage and getting to the second level to block linebackers. That’s why he’s been so successful despite running against heavy boxes on nearly half of his attempts.

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Dennis Allen credits the run game for quieting Cowboys’ pass rush

Limiting Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence was pivotal. The Saints did it by running the football and avoiding must-pass situations:

Stopping Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence was a key to victory for the New Orleans Saints against the Dallas Cowboys. Their ability to rush the passer is the defense’s greatest strength, yet Derek Carr didn’t see much pressure on Sunday.

Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning did a good job winning that matchup in the pass and run game. Part of stopping the Cowboys unit was running the football. Dennis Allen looked at the diminished impact of Lawrence and Parsons and felt “part of it was we were able to run the football.”

Alvin Kamara caught a touchdown, but his 115 rushing yards were equally as effective in slowing down the pass rush.

“When you’re able to run the ball and you’re able to put yourself in manageable situations, you’re not having to get into a dropback passing mode where they can unleash their pass rush,”  Allen explained.

That’s exactly what they did. The Saints only faced third down on eight occasions in this game. Just four of them were longer than 4 yards. One was a kneel-down and another was when the Saints were running out the clock and keeping the ball on the ground.

This means New Orleans only faced two third downs of more than 4 yards. The Saints were rarely in must-pass situations, and it kept the Cowboys’ best assets from getting active.

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Saints’ win over the Cowboys displays a major shift for New Orleans

The Saints’ win over the Cowboys showcased real growth. Dennis Allen beat a good team, and Klint Kubiak has completely renovated this offense:

The 2024 rendition of the New Orleans Saints have already succeeded where last year’s team failed. They’ve defeated a good team by knocking out the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

When the Saints finally started to put it together at the end of 2023, they defeated the lowly Carolina Panthers and New York Giants. The following game was against the Los Angeles Rams, and everyone wanted to see the Saints find success against a better opponent. Sound familiar?

This was the same sentiment expressed before visiting the Cowboys. But this time they passed the test. Alvin Kamara built on top of a strong Week 1 performance, Derek Carr’s connection to Rashid Shaheed proved to still  be dangerous, and it’s safe to say Klint Kubiak has completely renovated this offense.

The offensive line stalled the Cowboys’ pass rush, and that was the place where it seemed Dallas had the biggest advantage on paper. Trevor Penning and Taliese Fuaga kept Carr clean against an elite pass rusher in Micah Parsons.

Rising to the occasion this week answered a lot of questions about the Saints, and it drew a clear line between this team and last year’s squad. The 2024 Saints can beat good teams. The sky just might be the limit for New Orleans.

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