Trevor Penning’s dominance should put the Carolina Panthers on notice

A dominant performance by offensive tackle Trevor Penning at the 2022 Senior Bowl should make the Carolina Panthers sit up and take notice. 

The Carolina Panthers were taking more than a keen eye on events at the 2022 Senior Bowl, where incoming college hopefuls strutted their stuff in front of leading personnel and front office figures from across the NFL. This is a pivotal offseason for the organization and with only one selection in the top-100 right now, it only heightens the urgency about getting things absolutely spot on at No. 6 overall.

General manager Scott Fitterer was heavily active in the trade market throughout his first draft after arriving from the Seattle Seahawks. So he’ll clearly look to do the same in pursuit of generating additional draft capital.

If the right deal doesn’t come along, then the pressure will be on to find a premier prospect who could assist right away. Or in a quarterback’s case, learn quickly before assuming command under center.

One player that did his draft stock a tremendous amount of good in Mobile, Alabama was Trevor Penning. There was plenty of intrigue surrounding the offensive tackle following a dominant college career at Northern Iowa, but shining against better opposition was pivotal for the prospect given the lack of true competition with a smaller program.

Any concerns about Penning were alleviated almost from the moment he stepped onto the practice field. The lineman was in no mood to mess around, throwing opposing defenders around like rag dolls with an aggressiveness that teetered on the edge a lot of the time.

This attitude drew rave reviews from media in attendance. Penning was seen as a borderline first-round pick heading into the Senior Bowl, but there is every chance he could become a top-15 or even top-10 selection when he builds on this positive momentum throughout the evaluation process.

It’s no secret that the Panthers need some real upgrades on their offensive line, which was an absolute disaster in 2021 outside of right tackle Taylor Moton, who remained a model of consistency. Addressing this in free agency won’t be cheap, so the best possible route to improvement will likely come through the draft.

Trevor Penning fits the mold required by the Carolina Panthers

If Penning wasn’t on the shortlist, he should be now.

He has all the size and length normally associated with high-quality linemen at the next level. This is matched by supreme power and footwork that is a significant force on running downs and in pass protection.

There are some concerns about technique, which needs work. Penning also has a tendency to hold a little too often when beaten and this needs to be eradicated from his game upon arriving at the pros where things will be far less forgiving.

Dominating at the FCS level is one thing.

Transitioning this to the NFL is another matter entirely.

Penning is off to a good start and teams are hungry for tackles that come with this sort of upside. And it’s hard to deny he wouldn’t be a substantial upgrade on anything Carolina turned out at left tackle during the 2021 season.

Much will depend on Brady Christensen’s development. There is also an obvious temptation for the Panthers to go with a potential franchise quarterback such as Kenny Pickett or Malik Willis.

However, the protection has been ignored for far too long and this is something the Panthers can ill-afford to do again this offseason. Penning fits the mold, but whether he’ll end up in Carolina or not has yet to be determined.