It isn’t unusual for NFL teams to practice different alignments in the spring to get a feel for where players can line up in the fall, but the New Orleans Saints may have found the right combination to start organized team activities in May. For the first time with media in attendance, fourth-year lineman Trevor Penning was playing left guard instead of right tackle — with last year’s starting left tackle Taliese Fuaga moving back to the right side, where he played college football.
When asked how Fuaga handled the new assignment, first-year head coach Kellen Moore said he only had a one-word response. But Moore needed more than that to explain why he’s so confident in Fuaga making the switch.
“I don’t really care about left tackle, right tackle components in this league,” Moore told reporters after Thursday’s practice session. “The edge rushers go wherever the matchups go and they’re going to go where they line up. He’s spent a lot of time at right in his whole life, he spent (time at) left obviously last year. Sometimes I think we make bigger deals out of it than it really is. Because you talk to Tali and it’s, ‘Okay.’ Cool, go to right tackle and the next day it’s easy as can be.”
Fuaga set high standards at left tackle for the Saints last season, but his work on the right side at Oregon State was arguably even more impressive. Moving back to where he spent multiple seasons starting at the college level could be good for him. And moving inside could be good for Penning. At the end of the day this is all about getting the five best offensive linemen on the field at the same time. If that means asking Penning to change positions while playing Fuaga and rookie first-round pick Kelvin Banks Jr. at their accustomed positions, so be it.