Trevor Penning’s positive offseason included stops at Training HAUS, OL Masterminds

Alex Boone couldn’t hide his excitement over Trevor Penning’s potential.

The former NFL guard, who now trains athletes at Training HAUS in Minnesota, sees the same combination of “massive” size and rare athleticism in the 6-foot-7, 330-pound offensive tackle that the New Orleans Saints saw when they selected Penning with the 19th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

“Let me just start by saying he is without a doubt one of the greatest physical specimens I have ever had the privilege of working with or next to,” said Boone, who used comparisons like Trent Williams, Orlando Brown Jr. and Jordan Mailata to illustrate what Penning traits could look like if he ever learns to harness them.

Who is the most underappreciated Saint? https://t.co/nAk0mOsS6y— NOF (@nofnetwork) June 4, 2024

Penning recently ran the 40-yard dash along with the rookies who were preparing for the combine at Training Haus, and Boone remembers everyone going nuts when Penning blew away even running backs and linebackers.

That’s always been the case with Penning, who ran the 40 in 4.89 seconds at his NFL scouting combine while posting a Relative Athletic Score of 9.95 that Kent Lee Platte said ranked seventh out of 1,218 offensive tackles from 1987-2022.

Trevor Penning was drafted with pick 19 of round 1 in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 9.95 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 7 out of 1218 OT from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/0NX5hNfbgc #RAS #Saints pic.twitter.com/KRPwljwUTS— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 29, 2022

Of course, Boone also saw the same bad tendencies that have been holding Penning back when they worked together for about six weeks at the beginning of this offseason. The same things Nick pointed out in his OTA observations last week when Penning endured an uneven practice session. Penning still tends to get off-balance or lunge at blocks.

“I think the one thing about him is at times you're like, ‘Hey, you're actually so big that you don't need to be worried about people running around you. Like, you would almost want to invite this rush through you because you're so big. And at the same time you’re so (expletive) strong,” said Boone, who added that he doesn’t want to see Penning lose his special level of aggressiveness; he just wants to see him combine it with some of Bruce Lee’s “Be like water” mentality.

“His biggest thing is gonna be, ‘Bring the fight to me.’ Be confident that if somebody runs into you, who the (expletive) is gonna move Trevor Penning? Nobody,” said Boone, who can’t wait to work with Penning again. “He’s one of those guys you’re looking at him and talking to him, ‘If he can put all this together, and he can go out there and start dominating, just maybe for one game and eventually one will lead to two and two will lead to three, he could have a phenomenal career.’”

The best part about Penning’s offseason is that he was healthy enough to spend those six weeks in Minnesota before he relocated to Dallas and spent about two months training with offensive line guru Duke Manyweather at OL Masterminds — the same place former Saints great Terron Armstead and many of the NFL’s other elite linemen train in the offseason.

Last year, Penning was recovering from major foot surgery, which sapped most of his first full NFL offseason.

Now he’s in a much better place both physically and mentally as he embraces this chance to wipe the slate clean in a new offensive system with a new offensive coaching staff and a new position at right tackle.

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“A lot better. A lot better,” Penning said of where he is now compared to the end of the 2023 season, when was benched in Week 6 and barely played the rest of the season. “I feel good right now. I feel a lot more confident. I feel like the coaches have my back. I’m at a new position … but I feel comfortable ... more comfortable than I thought I would.”

None of this guarantees success for Penning. But it’s promising the Saints are giving him every opportunity to hit the reset button on his career after injuries and inconsistency derailed his first two seasons.

Penning said both coach Dennis Allen and general manager Mickey Loomis were encouraging during his exit interviews at the end of last season, saying they liked the strides he was taking in practice. Then Penning said Allen called him in March and told him they were starting over on a fresh page.

Penning has also been encouraged by his interactions with new offensive line coach John Benton, who previously worked with him during the week of Senior Bowl practices in 2022 as a member of the New York Jets staff.

“It’s good to kind of flush the past almost. I mean learn from the past, but let it go,” said Penning, who said he has always tried to block out the criticism or expectations from fans and analysts as much as possible.

“It was harder at first, but now … I just go out there and do what I need to do, block out all the outside noise,” said Penning, who said he doesn’t expect the transition to right tackle to be too difficult, even though he hadn’t even practiced at the position since maybe his freshman year of college (he also played right guard early in his career at Northern Iowa).

“I’m excited for it. I don’t think it’s as big a deal as some people think,” Penning said. “I know it’s like everything’s kind of backward. But I’m already feeling a lot more comfortable than I did last week. I just need to get reps at it, and we have a lot of time.”

If Penning can come anywhere close to meeting his massive potential, it will be worth the wait.

"Listen to your feet."The phrase is everywhere at Saints camp. It's the new philosophy for teaching quarterback play, one that relies on more precision and timing than before.Here's how Klint Kubiak, Andrew Janocko are rebuilding the passing offensehttps://t.co/nmIch9UMip— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) June 3, 2024