The New Orleans Saints need Trevor Penning.
Yes, you read that right.
Forget the past three seasons of his Penning's career.
The Saints' offensive line is better with him than without him.
This time a week ago, I would have called the Saints’ O-line a strength of the team.
Maybe it still is.
But the foot injury left guard Penning suffered in Sunday’s preseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers leaves a gaping 6-foot-7, 325-pound hole in the line.
At least for now.
A report by the NFL Network says Penning will miss a few weeks.
Saints head coach Kellen Moore didn’t say how long Penning’s injury would have him sidelined, only saying “a little while.”
How long that is remains to be seen.
What we do know though is Penning will miss some practice time, a valuable commodity for a player making the transition from tackle to guard this season.
There was a time when news of Penning missing some time wouldn’t have seemed like a big deal.
The first three years of his NFL career have been underwhelming, especially considering the Saints selected him with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2022 draft.
But things seemed to be pointing in the right direction for Penning this training camp as he moved to a position that played to his best assets.
Penning’s strength is his strength.
All that brute power he has is much better utilized inside at guard as opposed to the athleticism required at tackle.
It's been obvious that Penning, entering the final year of his rookie contract, is more comfortable and more confident at guard.
The position switch is one of the most important moves Kellen Moore made since taking over as head coach. It helped transform a unit that was a question mark this time a year ago into a strength.
Erik McCoy is rock solid at center. Cesar Ruiz is steady on McCoy’s right side. And there is the promise of the two tackles taken in the first round of the last two drafts: Taliese Fuaga last year and Kelvin Banks this year.
All of sudden, the Saints seemed to finally have assembled the puzzle pieces together up front.
Then Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium happened.
In addition to the Penning injury, the Saints also lost backup interior lineman Will Clapp on the first series. Clapp, a New Orleans native who returned to the Saints this offseason after spending the past three seasons with the Chargers and the Buffalo Bills, was going to be key reserve for the Saints. He can play both guard and center. Now he’s out for the season, removing depth from a unit that didn’t have a whole lot to begin with.
Truth be told, this Saints’ offensive line is probably going to only be as good as the first five of Fuaga, Ruiz, McCoy, Penning and Banks. That quintet had taken all the reps with the first-team offense throughout camp prior to the Penning injury.
We saw last season just how quickly things can go downhill with one missing piece up front.
Remember last year?
The city was buzzing when the Saints steamrolled the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys to get off to a 2-0 start. Then on the first drive of Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles, McCoy went down with a groin injury, and the Saints were never quite the same. There were plenty other injuries along the way, but it all started with the loss of McCoy.
Offensive line play will be even more critical this season for a team with unproven quarterbacks vying for the starting job. The Saints need to be able to run the ball effectively to make things easier for Spencer Rattler or Tyler Shough. That starts with the guys blocking up front. They also need to be able to protect Rattler or Shough.
The Saints have plugged in veteran Dillon Radunz in Penning’s spot during practice. Radunz has played mostly at tackle in camp, including in Sunday’s game against the Chargers.
The best-case scenario is for a speedy return for Penning.
"Any player who can keep participating would be awesome," Moore said. "But things like this happen. Trevor will do everything he can to prepare himself for when the opportunity presents itself again. We feel good with where he's at right now."
Where the Saints need him most though is on the field.
Any chance the Saints have of exceeding the low expectations that many people have on this season depends on how well the Saints play up front.
Penning plays a big 6-7, 325 part in that.