There is an argument that many endorse: The best player is the winner. It's not easy to argue against results. The only way I'd say the winner isn't the best player is if the winner was incredibly lucky to see a rival make a stupid mistake. If producers intervene too much then again I would wonder if the winner was truly the best.
But here, Penner made the mistake himself. It wasn't bad luck, it was his own misunderstanding of the game's strategy. Even if he could have won the jury vote, his game was so awful that he had no chance of making it to the end.
It's even stranger that you admit that each season is completely different. If they are, if there cannot be an overall strategy that can lead you to victory, then you practically have to say that the winner is the best player for that season. Not the F7 boot.
My position is that, while the game changes each season with new players, there are some basic strategy points that HAVE to be followed. Tina, Brian, Tom, Danni, Earl, Todd and Kim followed those points so they are some of the best players ever. Penner, in his 3 tries, actually went against those points. So, while he is very entertaining, he is a dumb player.