LATEST NEWS:Five players that the Saints did not select in the Trevor Penning draft

Trevor Penning was selected by the New Orleans Saints with the 19th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Given his talent and small school background, the offensive tackle from Northern Iowa was a promising candidate worth considering if you were considering choosing him in the first round.

Penning was signed by the Saints, but thus far, he has been a complete failure. Despite starting the 2023 season as the team’s best left tackle option, he has only played in 23 games and was benched after six games.

Despite the potential agony, let’s examine five guys the Saints could have had in place of Penning. Players needed to be on the board when the Saints selected Penning with the 19th overall pick in order to be included on this list.

Trent McDuffie
The Kansas City Chiefs advanced to the 21st pick to choose Trent McDuffie, a cornerback out of Washington, two choices after the Saints selected Penning. Following his 2022 arrival to the Chiefs, McDuffie appeared to be headed toward becoming one of the NFL’s shutdown corners.

PFF awarded McDuffie an overall score of 73.6 in 2022, along with a 76.0 coverage rating. He was given an overall grade of 82.9 and a coverage mark of 78.3 this past season. KC advanced to acquire McDuffie for a reason, and they are now benefiting from it.

Though the Saints’ secondaries have been good lately, can you picture how they would appear with McDuffie in the mix? New Orleans lost this chance to strengthen the defense of their secondary even further.