Best position for Penning plus Saints Interior Offensive Line Discussion

Penning needs someone flanked to his left and right on the OL …. to address his poor lateral movement and play recognition.

Playing at Guard means a lineman needs to pass directly over Penning: no option to take a long path around him to the QB.

Does he play LG or RG ?
RG is where your strongest run blocker plays. Penning is a mauler as a run blocker. I remember at one point in the season Penning had a 90+ PFF rating as a run blocker.

Who then plays LG ?
It’s either Ruiz or McCoy.
If Ruiz plays left guard…. we can hope his average play at RG maybe translates to average LG play.

Another Option: If the younger Ruiz moves to center.. his natural position… he has greater upside…again, he’s younger than McCoy.
If McCoy moves to LG… I believe his play will be much much better than the average play of Ruiz at left guard or right guard.

This is not optimum but it’s working within the players you currently have on the roster.

Fuaga is your right tackle and they must find a Left Tackle… it ain’t Penning.