As the clock struck 4pm ET on November 4th it seemed as if the Chargers had failed to address their positions of need as the NFL’s trade deadline came and went. Then, a moment after the deadline passed, the news broke that Joe Hortiz had successfully managed to make his move.
Trevor Penning, the New Orleans Saints’ offensive lineman, was revealed to be the front office’s answer to the ongoing offensive line issues. Between injuries, underwhelming additions and failures of growth, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that the team desperately needed and they couldn’t find that from a player off the street unlike at other positions. The initial news broke via the usual NFL insiders and the team eventually confirmed the acquisition an hour afterwards. The price was announced as 2027 6th round pick; for most GMs this would be pocket change but for the Bolts’ scouting department, those picks are so valuable as they continue to find gems on Day 3 of the draft.
With the trade for Trevor Penning, this version of the Los Angeles Chargers have shown that they are far removed from the cautious years under Tom Telesco. They may not be Roseman’s Eagles or Snead’s Rams but they have made five trades for positions of value in two seasons, that’s as close as a pragmatic organization will allow a staff to go towards full blown commitment. So, now that Penning is in the building the questions now shift from ‘who and how’ to ‘why and where’. Therefore itโs time to parse what the former first-round selection brings and what caveats he carries.
Player Profile
Penning entered the NFL in 2022 as the 19th overall pick out of Northern Iowa, as a small-school FCS prospect with elite measurables. Trevor was a 0-star recruit who was a 5′ 10″ 170 lbs tight end in his freshman year before moving to guard and then eventually tackle once he finally developed into the frame you see now. He was a five-sport athlete that lettered in basketball, track (shot-put), baseball and wrestling before ultimately choosing football as his path forward.
He stands at just over 6′ 7″ and plays at around 325 lbs. At the Combine he ran a 4.89 second 40-yard dash (97th percentile historically) with a 10-yard split of 1.65 (99th percentile). He then managed a 7.25 second three-cone drill (98th) and landed a broad jump of 111″ (87th). This kind of athletic ability has rarely ever been seen in someone at his size, and it meant he netted a 9.98 RAS score at OT, it would have been 9.99 should he have declared as an OG. The former Panther was also ranked to 17th on Bruce Feldman’s Freak List due to his elite speed at his impressive size, to get that kind of national recognition ahead of his senior season, despite playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, was wildly impressive.
His college tape showed an offensive tackle who combined power, speed and length to dominate at the FCS level. He even flashed ability to mirror edge rushers which was rare for a mauler type. I personally didn’t buy into his film as a first round prospect due to his lack of refinement which is a deficiency which, when that comes from a small school prospect, rarely results in a prospect who is going to be pro-ready any time soon. His life-changing performance at the senior bowl rocketed him up draft boards after he got a chance to showcase how he would transition from FCS to the NFL.
Since being drafted however, his journey has not been smooth. His rookie season started off positively, in fact the best PFF grades of his career were in his first six games, however he faced his first major hurdle as his season was cut short due to a Lisfranc injury. Since then he has struggled to find a home on the Saints’ offensive line. Penning has logged starts at both tackle positions and in 2025 he shifted inside to guard. To play three positions in four years is never a smart development plan and this clearly impacted his game. The shift to guard was not a smooth transition either as he missed the first three games of this season due to his ongoing turf-toe issues.
This inconsistent development path, along with his raw profile, meant that many people had tagged him with the dreaded ‘first-round bust’ label and unfortunately for Trevor, it seems like his team agreed. The Saints declined his fifth-year option ahead of the 2025 season which clearly represents a red flag in terms of his value to the organization.
Penning therefore arrives in LA with developmental questions, positional instability and health concerns. So why did the Chargers make this move? Well the answer as always, lies in the tape. Luckily for you, dear readers, I went in full sicko mode on this one as I watched six of Penning’s games from the last two seasons in pursuit of truly understanding what kind of player the Chargers are getting.
Side note: this was a hard watch; the quarterback play between Derek Carr, Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener and now Tyler Shough, was a rough experience and the offensive shackles they played under made for some yawn-inducing film.
So letโs get into the tape review to examine his performances to date whilst trying to use this as basis to understand how Jim Harbaugh, Greg Roman and Mike Devlin envision how they can best use Penning’s abilities.
Physical Tools
Trevor Penningโs physical tools are outstanding and his testing numbers are absolutely reflected on the football field; he is not an Underwear-Olympics specialist in the slightest. His multi-sport background means his body is near perfect for you’d want a Tackle to look. His height, reach and slender lower half all combine to allow him to control how he meets his opponents at multiple levels.
How this has manifested across two positions is interesting:
- At tackle his length and athleticism enables him to cover ridiculous amounts of ground, reset laterally in mirror assignments, and his agility enables him to choose where he wants to meet the rusher even if they line up in a wide 9t.
- His switch to guard was predicated on turning his speed into a weapon, the Saints’ coaching staff clearly wanted to exploit his ability to get to the second level in a flash and he obliged happily.
- Not only is he fast but his agility is off the charts, he can open his hips at absurd angles and his get-off is on par with the best edge rushers in the game. This all culminates into being a dangerous puller, both across the formation and outside the numbers where he can act as a lead blocker.
- You will see throughout the tape that he has one of the cleanest abilities to hip toss defenders that I have ever seen. His background as a wrestler comes to fruition whenever he sees an opportunity to punish the opposition, which he often does due to his ‘unstable’ temperament.
Tackle (2022-2024)
Pass Blocking
Trevor Penning was drafted as a Tackle because of his athletic gifts as I have described above. However, across the 1622 snaps he took at OT it became clear there were limitations to his game that wouldn’t have been revealed during his time as a Northern Iowa Panther due to the level of athlete that he was playing against. It became apparent that his pass blocking was susceptible to power moves as shown in the clips below.
Despite his physical gifts, the one thing Trevor hasn’t been able to overcome is that his anchor is simply not strong enough to handle power moves such as an established bull rush or a long arm move. Any power move that manages to push him back onto his heels usually forces the quarterback to drop their eyes as Penning’s massive frame was sent into their laps. This flaw meant he couldn’t be reliable in pass protection, especially in a dropback-heavy scheme that was usually caught playing in a negative game script with inept quarterback play for the extra cherry on top.
Penning plays too high at times too which exacerbates his anchor issues leading to lost leverage. His pad level, footwork and balance are uneven in these situations. However, this is not to say he is a complete liability. Penning knows his weaknesses, he is a smart player, so he circumnavigates the need to sit down and ride out a pass block whenever he can manage to without disrupting the rest of the protection scheme.
His pass set footwork is not technical in the slightest, his kick step is almost non-existent and it is more like a defensive back’s backpedal. This has meant that some speed rushers have been able to exploit his outside shoulder when they get into 3rd and long. They know the QB is going to be in a 7-step drop pattern and his landing spot will therefore be deeper and Penning is not able to get that far back in time. Penning has found a way to match this but it’s risky, he shortcuts the path and turns back vertically to catch the rusher at the last second with a late hook move just as they are getting to the passer. When he fails to find proper hand placement on this move, it usually ends in a sack or a holding penalty. This is evident in the last clip of the video below.
I believe that the Saints’ protection scheme did not help with this as they asked very hard questions of his range as you can see in the clips above. The Packers game in particular was puzzling, the pass protection plan just seemed to rely on Penning reaching two gaps over and I feel like the 11 pressures he was credited with were incredibly harsh given that he was well out of favor in those assignments.
Run Blocking
Traditionally a Right Tackle is your run blocker and Penning was perfect fit for that role as this is what he thrives at. The Saints used his athletic gifts effectively by sending him on the move in a variety of methods that usually resulted in success. He uses his speed, power and torsion resistant strength to win the gap whenever he is on the move. I rarely ever saw him lose when attacking laterally, even if he was out-leveraged. Again the Saints asked a lot of him in these situations and more often than not he answered the bell.
To say he’s light on his toes for a big man would be an insult, he’s as light on his toes as any athlete in the league. There are plays where he changes direction laterally like he’s in a pass protection drill then firing down hill with strides the same lengths as the receiver running alongside him. Penning works well off double teams when attempting to wash down interior defensive lineman and clear out gaps on pin and pull concepts.
Before I move onto his Guard tape I wanted to point out an under-appreciated part of Penning’s game that I think Chargers fans are going to love: his awareness. Penning is rarely fooled by stunts or sim pressures, at Tackle I didn’t see him lose one rep when faced with a disguise concept and at Guard I thought he handled them well even if his inexperience there let a couple through. His awareness doesn’t stop there either, he is always looking for work and loves to cave in on edge rushers who think they have an inside path to his QB (I’m sure Joey Bosa felt that hit in the morning).
Guard (2025)
I would have supported Penning’s move inside if the Saints hadn’t have tried him at both Tackle spots first. To learn two different playbooks at three positions is a very hard ask especially when the player in question had missed key time in the off-season due to injury. Trevor’s skill set suits being a bruising yet agile guard that punishes teams who give him a free release. However to do that so late into the off-season was malpractice which shouldn’t be surprising given who their coaching staff contains. That said, I believe that his progression in his six games before the trade deadline was a major contributing factor in why the Chargers looked to acquire him, he grew into the role and I think that is where his future lies. More on that later.
โThe things I do well, I think fit better at guard โฆ you can be more aggressive โฆ you connect on guys and get on them early.โ
The first thing you notice when comparing Penning’s Guard and Tackle film is that mistakes start to creep into his game where there were barely any before his latest switch. He took false steps leading to leverage losses, his timing is quite in rhythm just yet and got his feet caught under him too often. Also, he was generally slower off the ball but that is fairly normal due to the natural hesitations that come with new horizons. My biggest gripe with his Guard tape is that is far too quick to release upfield on double teams and it leaves his blocking-mate short changed dealing with impossible angles to cover. I am a naturally positive film-watcher so I think this is something that can develop with more time on task.
Pass Blocking
This season Trevor’s pass blocking losses came in the same way as when he was outside at Tackle. He still struggles with power that goes up and through his chest, however now he is able to steer more directly back into it. Before, out in space, if he had to try and turn around the pocket and that led to easier angles if he didn’t get that positioning right. Now he is able to push back knowing the spaces around him would close up rather than open up, as the play went on.
However against the more elite interior defensive lineman who are able to win in tight spaces through power, he has struggled to the point of slight concern. Vita Vea not only beat him for three pressures but he also drew three holding calls. So to say Penning is a long way from the elite categories would be an understatement.
Run Blocking
Everything Penning brought in the run game as a Tackle has carried over to his new home inside. His agility, short area burst and mean punishing finishes are more suited as a Guard and it was brilliant to see this land on tape from the moment he stepped back onto the field after recovering from his turf-toe. As you can see from the film in the compilation below he was flying around the field in search of his next victim. Penning’s reach blocks are already accomplished, his ability to swivel his hips to seal out lanes is impressive and his commitment to finding work late when playing backside is outstanding. These are all traits of veteran guards so to see those on top of his athletic gifts is very encouraging.
The move inside has turned Penning’s already decent run blocking skills into a genuine threat that defensive coordinators will have to consider. You can’t give this man a free release and expect your inside linebacker to get across his face whilst two-gapping. This makes it very hard for the opposition to play under-fronts from light personnel and any single player that can dictate personnel decisions, is worth acquiring for a Day 3 pick even if they aren’t as buttoned up in other areas.
Penning’s block on DaQuan Jones, #92 of the Bills, at 25 seconds into the video above is of rare quality.
His fit with the Chargers
For the Chargers, acquiring Penning is the kind of opportunistic and pragmatic move that great organizations make. The major injuries along the offensive line, particularly at tackle, have created an immediate need that Penning can fill but there is also an opportunity to see if he is able to take on coaching to the point where he can be a part of the future at Guard. Tackle for now, Guard for future. This is how I believe Hortiz has envisioned Penning’s purpose on this team.
“A really good player. I really studied him hard coming out of college. A lot of potential, physical guy, likes to finish. I think he’s in a sweet spot in his career where he’s going to take off.”
For this season, it will be very interesting to see if Greg Roman and Andy Bishcoff can draw up plays that make the most of his agility and mean streak when pulling outside. They have used Joe Alt on similar concepts before however these were a change-up and not the tip of the spear, to steal a phrase from Harbaugh. Trevor has the size-athleticism combination that allows scheme flexibility meaning zone blocks can be as potent as gap blocks in terms of overwhelming one area of the field. Getting Kimani Vidal a proper seal on the edge will give the run game a massive boost.
Ultimately, Penning remains a high-ceiling, low-risk type move. For the Chargers, the reward may outweigh the risk if he stabilizes the tackle position and/or shows growth quickly. If he does, the trade will look incredibly savvy. If not, this becomes another reminder of how physical tools alone donโt guarantee tackle success.
One quick note to say that Penning won’t be seen this week unless something drastic happens, he’ll be trying to translate the Saints’ word based system into Greg Roman’s number based playbook which is no mean feat!
Conclusion
In my opinion, the New Orleans Saints failed to develop Trevor Penning and seizing the opportunities left on the table via the mistakes poor organizations make, remains the safest bet in the NFL. Across the six games I watched my opinion grew from being impressed by a player with a bad reputation into being excited about he could transform the Chargers’ run game in the near future. I therefore think this move is another Joe Hortiz special where he sees something others have missed and I for one expect Penning to fit into the same tier as Molden, Ford, Oweh and Tart as those who skill sets have been misappropriated by others, yet realised by the Chargers!
Great job mate
I look forward to watching some Penning All-22 once he’s entered the starting line-up which I think will happen sooner than later.
Sounds like we should expect him to be helpful on any run concepts that allow his athleticism to shine (sweeps, tosses, outsize zone or as a puller on long trap). Can he help the passing game on screen calls (RB or quick to WR)?
Maybe he can be better than the current stable against bendier edge rushers too (maybe with some chipping help if they’re coming from wider alignments).
But it sounds like we need to beware of his limitations against power rushers and any traditional gap concept where he’s asked to combo block or down block and isn’t asked to pull. Tbh doesn’t exactly sound like a big strong, Harbaugh type, but there are slim pickings around the deadline and he’s certainly a Harbaugh type in other respects (mauler, playing with a chip, etc).
Very helpful article!