Trevor
Penning.
Trevor
Penning.
Northern Iowa· 6'7"· 325 lb· 4.89s 40
"The meanest blocker in the class and the least finished one, Penning was a bet that an FCS tackle's temperament would survive the jump while his pass sets got coached into something repeatable."Pre-draft read
Three-year starter at left tackle in an FCS offense that ran gap and zone concepts, Penning played every rep like it was a fight. He came off the ball with heavy, deliberate steps, landed a long punch to knock rushers off their track, and rolled his hips through contact in the run game, where he regularly finished defenders on the ground.
In protection he was at his best setting aggressively and landing first, using mass and length to ride rushers past the pocket; the kick-slide ran long and wide, which showed up when he had to redirect inside. He climbed to second-level defenders with real urgency for 325 pounds and pulled comfortably. The signature was temperament: he blocked through the whistle on every snap.
Gap and duo run game that lets him fire off downhill and finish, paired with a pass-protection plan that keeps his sets short and inside-out.
Year 1: right tackle in a run-first offense with chip help against speed. Ceiling: physical starting left tackle in a power scheme.
Deep drop-back passing offense that leaves him isolated on wide-nine speed rushers with no help.
His value is tied to how often the offense asks him to move a body rather than mirror one.
Scariest Offensive Lineman in College Football - Northern Iowa OL Trevor Penning Highlights
Full-season cut of the finishing habit that defined his tape.
Trevor Penning UNI Spring 2021 Season Highlights (6 games)
Six-game spring season in full, useful for run-game displacement.
Northern Iowa OT Trevor Penning Highlights | 2022 NFL Draft
Draft-cycle breakdown of the pass sets and the redirect issues.
A converted small-school tackle with a rare build and a rarer disposition, Penning was the most physically imposing blocker in the class and played like he knew it. Teams were buying a left tackle with prototype size, functional movement for that mass, and a finishing habit that shows up on tape long before it shows up in a testing profile. The projection was straightforward: a power-scheme left tackle who would be asked to displace bodies in the run game while his pass sets were coached down to something repeatable.
The context mattered both ways. He started 15 games as a redshirt sophomore, six more in the spring season, and all 12 in 2021, when he was a Walter Payton Award finalist and a first-team All-MVFC pick, the first Panther invited to the Senior Bowl. But the competition was FCS, and Mobile turned into a mixed week: he dominated stretches and drew attention for scraps that spilled past the whistle.
Evaluators loved the temper and worried about the control. Penalties, late hands and a habit of lunging at speed were the flags, and nobody was sure how quickly the technique would catch up to the mentality. He sat squarely in the back half of the first round, and New Orleans took him at 19 to protect a passing game that needed a long-term answer on the edge.
- 01
Play strength
Rolled his hips through contact and generated real displacement in the run game, routinely moving FCS defensive linemen off the spot and finishing them to the ground.
- 02
Length and punch
Long arms and a heavy initial strike let him knock rushers off their intended track before they could build a rush plan against him.
- 03
Temperament
Blocked through the whistle on every rep and set a physical tone for the entire offensive line, a trait scouts consistently flagged as genuine rather than manufactured.
- 04
Movement for the mass
Climbed to linebackers, pulled and worked in space with more urgency than most 325-pound tackles, giving him scheme flexibility beyond straight drive blocking.
- 05
Frame and durability of build
Prototype tackle dimensions with room to carry the weight, giving teams confidence he could hold up against NFL power on the edge.
- 01
Pass-set width
His kick-slide ran long and wide, opening an inside lane and forcing recoveries against rushers who could stack a move and counter back under him.
- 02
Balance against speed
Lunged and leaned at contact when rushers threatened the corner, letting quicker edges work him past the top of the pocket.
- 03
Discipline
The aggression carried penalties and post-whistle incidents, including a contentious Senior Bowl week that raised questions about control in structured settings.
- 04
Level of competition
Dominated FCS defenders who could not match his mass, leaving real uncertainty about how the technique would translate against NFL length and hands.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.89sp50
- Vertical
- 28inp50
- Broad jump
- 111inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.25sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.62sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Northern Iowa | 4 |
| 2019 | Northern Iowa | 15 |
| 2020 | Northern Iowa | 6 |
| 2021 | Northern Iowa | 12 |
| Career | — | 37 |
Per the UNI official bio: redshirted 2017, saw action in four games in 2018 with no starts published, started all 15 games in 2019, played and started six games in the pandemic-shifted spring 2020 campaign (five at left tackle, one at right tackle), and started all 12 games in 2021. Career start total covers 2019-2021; 2018 starts are unpublished and left blank rather than assumed.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Toolsy first-round tackle who became a serviceable but penalty-prone swing starter.
Massive tackle whose power carried him to a starting job once technique stabilized.
Enormous frame and edge that never translated because control and availability lagged.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Trevor Penning has played two seasons for the New Orleans Saints, with his rookie year significantly impacted by injury. He has struggled to secure a consistent starting role at tackle.
New Orleans never got a clean run at the plan. Penning tore a ligament in his foot before his rookie season and played six games, then broke his Lisfranc in the finale. He worked as a swing piece in 2023 with five starts, finally held down a full year in 2024 at right tackle with 17 starts and near-every-snap usage, and opened 2025 back in the mix before the Saints traded him to the Chargers in November for a 2027 sixth-round pick. Los Angeles used him situationally, then re-signed him in March 2026 on a one-year, $4.5 million deal.
In hindsight this was a bet on traits and temperament at a position where technique decides outcomes, and the technique never fully arrived. The flags identified before the draft — wide sets, lunging against speed, penalties — were exactly the ones that kept him from locking down left tackle, and injuries cost him the developmental reps that might have smoothed them. He became a usable NFL starter, which is not nothing for an FCS lineman, but the 19th pick is priced for a decade at left tackle, and New Orleans declined the fifth-year option rather than pay for one.
Data note: from Philadelphia