Trevor Penning Has To Step Up, Plus Mark Ingram Retiring?

foreign [Applause] [Music] what is up who that Nation welcome back inside another edition of the straight up Saints podcast where we'll talk about Trevor penning's year two Outlook Mark Ingram's future whether or not he's retiring as the Saints all-time leading rusher and Derek Carr's Pro Football Focus ranking and honestly I think it's a fair assessment of where he Stacks up among quarterbacks in the NFL we'll talk about that right here on the straight up Saints podcast but before we do I want to remind you that this program is brought to you by Scott Victor injury lawyers if you've been injured in any kind of accident car truck 18 wheeler or hurt offshore Scott Victor handles it all you give him a call at 504-500-1111 for a free consultation that's right a free consultation they'll always fight for the win now let's get in to the start of the show and we'll start off with a little bit of an appetizer in my mind and that's the Mark Ingram news and Mark Ingram it was reported on Thursday night by the New York Post that he could replace Reggie Bush on big noon kickoff for Fox Sports which means he'd give you college football coverage and my immediate thought was I think it's kind of I don't want to say funny but ironic that Mark Ingram's about to take that spot on big noon kickoff because like I said that means he'd be replacing Reggie Bush and if we go back to 2011 what happened there Saints drafted Mark Ingram Reggie Bush wants out he gets out gets traded to Miami it's just odd how things work how he's about to do that but in all you know I don't want to say all seriousness but just looking at the move itself Mark Ingram going to broadcasting if this is what he if this is what he ends up doing I look at it two ways one I think it's a good idea for them especially the college route I think Mark Ingram he always brings that energy and I'd imagine if he goes to college football based show they'll do some stuff with him talking about Alabama and hyping them up and I think he'll bring that plus again talking about a guy who is a former Heisman winner a guy that's done an awful lot both at the Collegiate and pro level it's not like you're gonna lose Reggie Bush's experience and not bring anything in I think Mark Ingram would do a fine job and then you look at it from the other side right the perspective of understanding that all right Mark Ingram's career is actually over in terms of his playing career and I think for Mark we have to remember it wasn't always pretty it wasn't always easy but he is the all-time leading rusher for the Saints he's got the most rushing touchdowns in Saints history he had a very good career and when I look back at marketing girl I remember him for two things I'm gonna remember him for getting through the early bumps and bruises to becoming an all-time leading rusher for the franchise I'm also gonna remember his leadership and I think for Mark Ingram starting off with the first thing if this is the end and he is retiring and it kind of seems like that's what's gonna happen Mark Ingram did not produce at a high level early in his career it took Mark Ingram a lot of time to really develop into the running back that we all know and loved that he was but early on no you were expecting stuff from Pierre Thomas you were expecting stuff from Darren Sproles you really weren't expecting it from Mark Ingram hell I'd say Chris Ivory even had more moments you would think in the in the early 2010s than Mark Ingram and then he started to come into his own and then you remember kind of the second phase of what he did with the Saints I mean 2017 and 2018 were some of the most fun years I've ever had watching the Saints and a lot of it was because of the backfield and a big part of that also was Ingram and Camara would give you hell on the football field and then they'd give you laughs off of it during their interviews so I just think that for him it would be great it makes sense from retire I don't think he's got a lot of gas left in the tank anyway but as you guys mentioned it and it actually does bring up a good point if he does retire he kind of ends his career on a stinker which is the I the thought of him kind of running out of bounds injured against Tampa Bay and again I'm not going to blame a guy who's injured for doing what he does but that kind of set the tone for the comeback that happened there which absolutely stinks but Mark Ingram I don't have a cap on if I did I would tip it to you it seems like he's gonna retire he had one hell of a career uh and I'm excited to see what he does if he goes to broadcasting I've often said that him and particularly Cam Jordan the world is theirs when they retire as far as what they want to try because they do have really good energy they've been nothing but Stand Up Guys their whole career people will want to work with them they'll absolutely want to work with them so I'm excited to see what's next for Mark Ingram and uh I think he's gonna do well but it seems like big noon kickoff for Fox Sports is where he'll go so I want to switch gears here and talk about Derek Carr and where he ranks So Pro Football Focus put him 14th in their ahead of the 2023 season rankings the quarterbacks listed above him are as followed you have Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen Joe burrow Justin Herbert Aaron Rodgers Lamar Jackson Jalen hurts Trevor Lawrence Kirk Cousins Dak Prescott tuatango by Loa Matthew Stafford to Sean Watson those are the quarterbacks ranked ahead of Derek Carr Derek Carr ranked 14th and I guess like the the popular or like the hot take opinion today with me being livid about this list it's like Derek Carr should be ranked higher but I think 14 is a great spot for him I really do and let's start off with the the Common Ground here Mahomes Allen burrow Herbert Rogers Lamar Jalen hurts Trevor Lawrence those eight ranked ahead to their car who's gonna argue that Derek Carr's better than any of them because it wouldn't be me so you have that class right of Kirk Cousins two uh Dax Stafford I think that's perfect for Derek Carr because while I don't think Derek Carr is like top end production he's on the level of Stafford or on the level of Dak I think Deborah Carr what you love about him is he's always on the field those two have struggled to do that the last two years what also he does same thing with Tua struggling to be on the field what he also does is kind of give you that Baseline of what you can expect production wise which is something Kirk Cousins gives a lot of teams so he is absolutely in that class and I think this is actually a good ranking for Derek because again this is off of a Down year and in reality if he plays well next season we're talking about a guy who can shoot up to 10 maybe 11 in a quarterback ranking because like I said there's not a huge separation between Dak to uh Stafford Kirk Cousins Derek Carr now I think out of all then I would prefer Stafford if he's healthy but he's the most injury-prone out of all them right now so that's why it makes sense for him to be in that class uh as for DeSean Watson I think it was just a rust thing I think he'll probably remind people who he is on the field this fall but the rest of the group makes a lot of sense and I look for Derek Carr quarterbacks ranked directly Underneath Him in these rankings you have Geno Smith you have Jared Goff you have Daniel Jones you have Justin Fields I personally would take Derek Carr over all those I know that there are Golf and Geno Smith just had outstanding seasons and I know that Justin Fields has all the potential in the world but with Fields I gotta see that potential play out in the full season which I think it could and I hope it does he's an electric player and then for golf and Geno they were great last year but I know that Derek Carr has been at least consistently good even in bad situations where Jared Goff was bad really fun to watch at McVeigh then mediocre then struggled in Detroit and then bounced back in Detroit so it's kind of been all over the map so again I look at this ranking Derek Carr 14th in the NFL uh I'm okay with it I don't think it's a I don't think it's a problem at all I think that's a really nice spot for him and I think when you look at these rankings like I mentioned Derek Carr does what we think he can do and I think he can actually end up being a guy that produces at an insanely high level with the weapons and Saints to put around him then the the leeway is there to move up like I said if Dak struggles if Kirk struggles if Stafford's not healthy all of a sudden Derek's sliding into that 10th spot and you're looking at it differently but what I can say about this list and I think it's something that strange fans even if you don't have like Derek Carr you should come to the agreement with since last year rolled Andy Dalton out for 14 games Derek Carr is better than Andy Dalton any day of the week and I know there was this discourse about whether or not he's even that much of an upgrade because everyone likes to compare Angel Dalton's so-so season to Derek Carr's Worst season and say oh what do we got here but in reality I looked at this whole list for PFF Andy Dalton wasn't in their top 32. so the saints went from a guy that they don't even value in their top 32 to a guy with AF 14. and again you don't have to love Derek Carr I don't even think Derek Carr's Elite obviously but huge upgrade for this team and now because of this type of move we're thinking about hey what is this ceiling what how many games can the Saints win how much of an impact is Derek going to be for them how many more wins can he get them I rather have that conversation than what was last year which was trying out Andy Dalton you know a couple nice drives followed by a couple of bad games and this team could never ever ever get close to 500 football so yes whether you love him whether you hate him whether you're iffy on them whether you're cautiously optimistic about him Derek Carr ranked 14th in the NFL out of all quarterbacks I think that's a very fair spot for him that's probably where I would have him about I mean maybe on this list I'd personally have him over Tua and that's just because I don't know if two is going to stay healthy and honestly I could say the same thing about Stafford I think Stafford and two is high end is better than Derek's but are they going to be healthy and availability is a very big ability and and fortunately for the Saints Derek does that and they're going to need that because quarterbacks have been injured an awful lot so overall I'm pleased with the PFF ranking if I had something to say and get it off my chest I would and I actually have something to say about the next topic about that in terms of getting something off my chest because I think this is going to be very very pivotal for the New Orleans Saints but before we do that I want to remind you just like before this show is brought to you by a ladder and Bloom and Chris Smith of Latter and Bloom is one of the top realtors in New Orleans and for a free marketing valuation of your property to book a property tour or to just talk real estate with them you can give them a call at 504-231-2004 that's Chris Smith of Latter and Bloom so I said I had something to get off my chest and I think I'll just get that off my chest and it has to do with Trevor Penning so when the Saints drafted Trevor Penning I was not one of those people who hated the pick I thought the pick actually made a lot of sense it needed offensive lineman they got an offensive lineman especially because Terron Armstead moved on to Miami they had an opening at left tackle petting didn't do much though petting did not do an awful lot for the Saints last year it started off with an injury and it ended with an injury so pre-season not a great first game shows a lot of promises second game third game comes out on a heater and then he gets hurt has the foot injury misses time finally comes back at the end of the year we all of a sudden start thinking about oh this is great for him he'll get reps he won't be completely new going into his second season he'll have a little bit of that I guess wear and tear in a good way not the bad wear and tear although that's what he ended up getting and he has a list of Frank injury so it started with a foot injury ends of the foot injury and now we're going into June and I haven't heard anything bad about Trevor petting's recovery I haven't heard of these he's got a setback I haven't heard that he's going to miss extra time than expected all I am saying though is Trevor Penning has not played an awful lot of games for the Saints and the Saints spent a nice amount of capital last year's draft to make sure they could have a Lobby and Trevor Penning Trevor Penning replaced a pro bowl caliber guy in Terron Armstead and if he's not available if he's not on the field we're gonna have to start to have a real conversation about whether or not that pick turned out well n how much that'll affect the season because I've been pretty optimistic about the saints's whole offices and I think the Saints are going to go 10 and 7 11 and 6. I really do and if they don't we'll be back here to talk about why I think this coach's F's got to go because that's the type of record this team should have they're constructed pretty well but this offensive line is banged up right now Eric McCoy is by himself Pete's not not playing right now Ruiz is not playing right now Ram check's not playing right now and Trevor Penning is not playing right now but at least with the others I've seen Ruiz play a while now in fact if we're going to be specific I've seen Ruiz play 46 games I've seen McCoy play 57 games I've seen will clap play 50-something games in his NFL career Ram check Pete obviously we've seen them play a ton of games Armstead before he left play a ton of games the Saints historically I would say they're pretty good at drafting offensive linemen now I don't know what the hit percentage would be I don't think it's as great because for every one of those guys there's a rick Leonard and that stuff doesn't work out right but the Saints in the top three rounds usually money like I said McCoy even Ruiz who last year played well Tron Armstead was a third round pick we already know what they got in a guy like Jerry Evans we know what Pete brought to the table we know what Ram check a first round pick brings to the table for Trevor Penning and I hate doing this to the kid but a lot of what the Saints want to be is probably going to rest on his shoulders because if they're going to be a team that mauls people in the wrong game I think they need Trevor Penning if they're going to be a team that hits that next ceiling I think they need Trevor pending the left at left tackle to figure out if this kid's good enough to handle it because if he's not that's a very important position the Saints are gonna have to figure out and yes I know the Saints got James Hurst and yes I know James Hurst is probably one of the better number two left tackles you could have out there right if he's got to start you're okay with it uh do you love it maybe not but you're not really sweating and and game planning on all right we got to make sure everything's sliding his way for protection and helping him out I don't think it's as dire of a concern but Trevor Penning has that high ceiling man he's got the strength and the speed at a size that should not be possible but if he's not healthy and he's not playing we're not going to have a clear indication of what he can be and I know people want to preach patience and patience is important because Cesar Ruiz was a perfect example of that first two years nothing last year really impressive really really impressive but with Trevor Penning at left tackle I don't think you can afford to be that more much more patients like I think this year he's got to step up and I'll go as far to say this about Trevor Penning Trevor Penning is in a draft class with Crystal lava and Allante Taylor who gave you immediate results he's in a draft class for the Saints although they didn't select him signed rashke as an undrafted guy who gave you immediate results Trevor petting a 19th overall pick in a draft class that had a couple of starting offensive tackles to begin with two of them being in Seattle he's got to play and and I know that it's so tough because like you can't control injuries and you also can't blame a player for getting hurt you really can't like after the time especially with petting's case it's a fluke thing but I'd like to see him out there and I really do mean this I think this ain't sealing as a team is exponentially higher if Trevor pennings out there than it would be if he's not out there I really do feel that way I think that this team changes a little bit if he's not out there so I want to see what happens with Trevor Penning I know with mandatory mini uh minicam coming up we should get a little bit better of an update I haven't heard anything about him potentially missing training camp I think he's gonna be ready to roll but you know I I don't want the Saints to go into next season where James Hurst is the starting left tackle for pretty much all 17 games I just don't want that uh no knock on James Hurst I just don't think that's the best way and the best route for the Saints being a successful team you want to protect Derek Carr you want to build that run game I think Trevor petting's a guy to do it especially the Run game aspect because I know pass blocking early on that can be tough Trevor Penning should succeed in run blocking because it's all about going downhill on him using that mean streak and when you got Alvin you got Jamal Williams you got Kendra Miller you got Tayson pill I want them running the ball as much as they can until the other team proves to stop them and I think Trevor Penning would do a good thing in that regard now before I wrap it up guys if you're listening to the live stream you want to throw in some comments some concerns I can pull them up and then we'll get you guys going on your way on this Monday morning uh but let's see if there's any comments that you guys have to throw in here if not no biggie if you do have something though it could be prediction concern question whatever throw it in and I'll get to it uh we'll get to this comment here the three concerns I have for this team is the health of the o-line linebacker room which is paper thin and the health of Latimore and Allante who showed concern is rookie season well I think those are all valid concerns right I think o-line like we just mentioned all banged up outside of McCoy uh Pete coming off injury pending coming off injury Ruiz coming off injury Ram check played pretty much all last year but he's always battling through something so McCoy right now is the only guy they feel good health-wise linebacker room absolutely hit the nail on the head I love the duo of Pete Werner and Demario Davis I do not love what comes to follow on that depth chart and I think for them uh yeah DeMarco Jackson could take that next step maybe Zach Bond could take that next step but we don't know if they will and I don't think it's fair to really say that that the Saints should be confident in that because I haven't seen it yet so I do think there's a little bit concern that now I've heard a couple good things about DeMarco Jackson with what he did in OTAs so now you hope that mandatory mini camp is a little bit more of that and then you hope training camp is more of that and all of a sudden you go okay can DeMarco have a Kate and Ellis type of leap where God forbid his numbers called he rises to the occasion then that linebacker is concerned where he's away but I don't think it's really gone right now I think it's it's prominent in terms of the the concern scale so I agree with you there and as for the health of Latimore and Allante you know I talked about this last week the secondary they could be a top five unit they were second in fewest passing game uh passing yards allowed last year and what made that so incredible to me was a lot of more missed 10 games so I agree with you I think Lattimore his health is a big thing because if he's out there I think this is where you talk about the same secondary being Elite not good Elite because Latimore and Allante you still have Paulson and Debo if he can bounce back you still have Bradley Roby you have Tyler Matthew who came on strong at the end of last year I'd imagine Marcus May is going to be better I don't think he could be as bad as he was last year so I expect the second year in Dennis Allen system to to pay dividends for him he's been at OTAs all the time so that's good uh Jordan Howden the rookie from Minnesota he's been better and and he's actually flashed from time to time in OTA so I think there's a chance that you get something out of him uh and even looking around I mean the Saints added Lonnie Johnson Jr maybe he gives you a little bit of depth there I like the secondary lot I really do and and I do agree with you I think vladimiralante that's where you're going to get the high-end production but we'll see I think it might work in different ways right Lattimore missed 10 games last year maybe he's healthy all this year and again he got hurt on a play where he had to go out of position to try and stop a touchdown pass against Seattle because the secondary was all out of sorts early in the year and he suffered a lacerated kidney because of it which I don't even want to imagine how painful that is the fact that it came back at the end of the season immediately has a pick six the guy is like a one-of-one talent when he's on his game he's so special but I do agree with you those are all very valid concerns and I think for New Orleans the linebacker no line rooms where I'm really concerned at although its Carr's first year on the team I hope Pete allows for him to have control of the plays at the line of scrimmage we've been missing that for too long for everything I've heard that will happen I think that cars had a lot of control in OTAs you hear a lot of communication in the front and I think it's a little different now because the last two years the Saints have really relied on Eric McCoy to be calling out the protections figuring it out and I think McCoy will still at some level have a say and and you kind of want that right you want McCoy to be a Savvy Center who can handle that and he and he has for the last two years but the Saints to your point if they're going to operate at their best it's gonna be when a guy like Derek Carr at QB is controlling the line of scrimmage and making sure everything is in place of where it needs to be and I think that's the best possible thing for them so I think Derek's gonna do that he will have control I don't think the Saints make the signing they do without telling Derek like we're we're entrusting a lot of power in you and we're hoping that you deliver and you make us feel like Geniuses at the end of the day but uh yeah I do think he will have a lot of control there I really hope this thing's bringing a line back in the next few weeks as well I'm fearful of that position being so weak on a poor tackling team yeah look I mean the tackling part those are guys that have to get better at uh early in the season Marcus May entire Matthew missed a lot Tyron cut it out towards the end Allante missed a lot over aggressive hopefully that changes but I think for New Orleans um linebacker is going to be probably the position we sweat out the whole season and I I just don't know if there's a guy out there right now that will change things and I looked at it before I believe it was last week went over linebacker free agents and I'll pull it up now just for us to go through but guys who are free free agents at the moment at the linebacker position Zach Cunningham Dion Jones miles Jack Quan Alexander John Bostic guys in that level who are older right John Bostic the oldest of the group at 32 but everyone else Quan 28 miles Jax 27 Dion Jones 28 Zach Cunningham 28 you would be getting a guy coming off a contract who didn't play particularly well who is probably out to prove that he's still got a little bit of gas off the tank and there's nothing wrong with that by the way I want to make that very clear if the saints were signed one of those guys at their number three linebacker uh that'd be cool with me I just don't expect any of those guys to come in and play a huge role and immediately make an impact uh that just goes through the locker room and you hear it um and you feel like if one of those guys goes down to Mario or Pete they'll take over because let's be pretty fair when Kaden came in we didn't know he was going to do what he did beforehand so I'm gonna that's why I went to Marco Jackson Zac Brown if you continue to hear good things you hope maybe that's what they can do whereas the Vets you kind of know what they are like I don't think signing 32 year old John Bostic all of a sudden out of nowhere he's going to hit a Renaissance year or the same thing for Quan Alexander which you can bring him back but is he gonna have a Renaissance here I don't think so at all so like I think that's where it gets tough but I do think they'll look at the market and I think how confident they feel in the young guys behind Pete and Demario will dictate whether or not they want to do this but those are kind of the names you're looking at Dion Jones Zach Cunningham Quan Alexander up miles Jack nothing particularly great uh guys that have had good years don't get me wrong but they've probably played their best football and it's gone as opposed to it's yet to come and I think we'll see but linebacker for sure I think that's going to be a topic for the Saints for a while uh as will o-line as will if we're being honest um the receiver room and it's not that they're not talented it's the injury concerns but that room's probably the one that gets me most excited because there's a lot of Talent on there I remember last year when you're looking at the depth chart you're like all right I guess you could pencil in that guy for fourth fifth sixth this year you're also penciling guys and not sharpening them but it's because of talent makes me all the more excited about what this team can do but again early June phase here still got a lot more work for the Saints to do in terms of coming that team that I think they can be um but I think a lot of it's going to start with the quarterback I think a lot of it's going to end with the health um I know that a lot of us have concerns about the coaching staff and I'm not going to tell anyone to kind of put those those coaching staff concerns away because even when I sit here today next month day the Monday after that and I preach optimism about this Saints team the back of my mind I'm going to be concerned about this coaching staff because until you prove that you can do it I'm gonna have my reservation so again we'll see what happens there but I do think this is a talented Squad and I really hope with mandatory mini camp coming up now we're getting some positive updates on guys like Trevor petting on guys like CJ Ruiz because the worst possible thing for New Orleans will be you start this year with a banged up o-line because if there's one thing Derek Carr does not want it's to get hit and the one thing that Derek Carr struggled with with the Raiders was when you start hitting him and you're beating him down that's when you're going to see him at his worst when he's clean he's going to dice you up uh when he's at his worst not great so you want that o-line healthy and we'll see if they do that but uh it's been a blast as always guys talking to you on this Monday morning for the straight up Saints podcast I know it's kind of been a little bit of a dry spell for Saints content nothing's really kind of been brewing which might be a good thing I think no no news for the Saints it's usually good news when it's popping it's kind of bad news sometimes either way though whether it's good news bad news somewhere in the middle you know I'll be here to talk about it on these straight up Saints podcast so make sure to subscribe to Bookoo media's YouTube page not just for Saints content great Pelicans content to lame content LSU content pop culture content they got it all subscribed to the YouTube page and as always keep uh keep staying tuned to the straight up Saints podcast the destination for The Who that nation and we'll be back next Monday with yet another live stream so make sure you bring your questions any comments probably have some stuff to talk about with mandatory mini camp and we'll go from there but that's going to do it for this Edition I thank you so much for listening have a great week everyone