Top Interior OL in NFL Draft: Lloyd Cushenberry

LSU center Lloyd Cushenberry ranks No. 2 among this year’s interior offensive line prospects.

LSU center Lloyd Cushenberry ranks No. 2 among this year’s interior offensive line prospects.

At Dutchtown (La.) High School, Lloyd Cushenberry was a second-team all-state selection as an offensive tackle. The recruiters weren’t impressed. He was given three stars and deemed the 82nd-best guard in the 2016 recruiting cycle.

LSU’s coaching staff wasn’t overly impressed, either. It gave Cushenberry its final scholarship.

At LSU, Cushenberry took matters into his own hands by teaching himself how to play center.

“I found some videos on YouTube and basically I taught myself in the offseason before I enrolled,” Cushenberry recalled at the Scouting Combine. “Then once I got to campus, I actually stole one of the balls from the equipment room and me and my roommate, he was a quarterback my freshman year, so we would just snap. I got the rhythm and we found it.”

Cushenberry started 28 consecutive games, including all 15 games in 2019, when he was second-team All-American, first-team all-SEC and team captain. Having earned his degree, he played in the Senior Bowl.

“Maybe I was born to be a center,” he said. “I didn’t play it in high school, so I had to teach myself how to snap and get comfortable being a vocal guy. I’m not really that vocal off the field but, on the field, I’m completely different. I make a lot of the calls, I’m the main communicator, and I’ve gotten used to that. Now, I love it. I take pride in that.”

By the numbers, Cushenberry (6-foot-3 1/8, 312 pounds; 34 1/8-inch arms) wasn’t very good in 2019. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed four sacks and 34 total pressures. Combined, Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz, Temple’s Matt Hennessy, Wisconsin’s Tyler Biadasz and Washington’s Nick Harris allowed three sacks and 23 pressures. However, Cushenberry almost always was tasked with handling his man one-on-one. In 2018, when he got help from the guard (or he helped the guard), he allowed only eight. On the bright side, he had zero penalties for holding and two for false starts.

Growing up, Cushenberry was a basketball point guard. He likened playing center to being the point guard of the offensive line. With that, he took leadership seriously. The team took notice. He was given the coveted No. 18 jersey, an LSU tradition that goes to a player who overcomes adversity and shows leadership.

“Kobe Bryant was my favorite player growing up and his mind-set, this past year, I was very interested in watching his interviews and reading,” Cushenberry said. “I bought his book a while ago just to know his mind-set about how he pushed his teammates and how he led those guys, and I tried to do that with the O-line group this year. I really took that to heart.”

What we like

Cushenberry offers a well-rounded skill-set and will be liked by teams that run zone- and power-based schemes. On running plays behind Cushenberry, the Tigers had a 55 percent success rate, according to Sports Info Solutions. That was the best mark among this year’s centers. “My two main strengths are my athleticism and the way I prepare. I feel like every week I put myself in a good position to go out there and make plays and play fast because I put in twh rok during the week. Watching film, I know what to expect.”

What we don’t like

Sure, some of it was scheme but the 34 pressures allowed is an appalling number. He allowed a pressure on 5.2 percent of the dropbacks. Cobbling together the thoughts of scouts, there are 22 “top” interior linemen in this draft. None of the others had a pressure rate of even 4.0 percent. Of the eight centers on that list, Cushenberry’s 10-yard time of 1.82 seconds ranked seventh. 

Bill Huber’s Interior O-Line Profiles

No. 1: Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz

No. 2: LSU’s Lloyd Cushenberry

No. 3: Louisiana-Lafayette’s Robert Hunt

No. 4: Temple’s Matt Hennessy

Nos 5-13: Wisconsin’s Tyler Biadasz leads best of rest

Bill Huber’s Offensive Tackle Profiles

No. 1: Louisville’s Mekhi Becton

No. 2: Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs

No. 3: Georgia’s Andrew Thomas

No. 4: Alabama’s Jedrick Wills

No. 5: Louisville’s Josh Jones

No. 6: USC’s Austin Jackson

Nos. 7-14: Cleveland, Niang, Peart part of best of rest

SI.com: O-Line U