Top Interior OL in NFL Draft: Matt Hennessy

Temple center Matt Hennessy ranks No. 4 among this year’s interior offensive line prospects.

Temple center Matt Hennessy ranks No. 4 among this year’s interior offensive line prospects.

The Hennessy family will never be synonymous with the Watts. However, life at home between Temple center Matt Hennessy and current New York Jets long snapper Thomas Hennessy was predictably combative.

“We’re super-close,” Matt Hennessy said at the Scouting Combine. “We used to fight a ton when we were younger, just because we’re both really competitive. He’s kind of been one of my biggest influences throughout my teenage years, coming to where I am now. He went to Duke, four-year-starter there, four years ahead of me. So, I kind of got to see everything before I did it.”

Hennessy (6-foot-3 7/8, 307 pounds; 32 1/4-inch arms) was a three-year starter. In 2018, Hennessy was voted Temple TUFF, a school tradition awards single-digit jerseys to the team's toughest players as voted upon by them team. He got jersey No. 3, which he wore as a sticker on his helmet. In 2019, he was one of three finalists for the Rimington Trophy, which goes to the best center in the nation, and an All-American. Having earned a degree in finance, he entered the draft and was selected to the Senior Bowl.

“I think it’s a matter of doing all the little things right, regardless of how hard they are,” Hennessy said at the Scouting Combine of being tough. “A lot of times, toughness is seen as a physicality issue, which it is, or an issue of grit, which it also is. But it’s more about doing the small little things that are tough along the way, that make you tough.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Hennessy allowed zero sacks and four total pressures for a pressure rate of 0.8 percent, which is No. 1 among this year’s centers.

What we like

Pass protection and athleticism. At the Combine, he ran his 40 in 5.18 seconds and his shuttle in 4.60. That shuttle time was the second-fastest of any lineman at the Combine and No. 1 among the centers and guards. That makes him a natural for a zone scheme. “I think the first thing people probably see when they turn on the film is athleticism. The ability to reach people at the first level, second-level blocking, getting out on screens, as well.”

What we don’t like

Facing mid-level competition, he was flagged three times for holding with three more false starts. If he’s clutching and grabbing against lesser competition, what’s he going to do against elite defensive linemen? He’s underpowered in the run game. On runs behind him, Temple had a 42 percent success rate, according to Sports Info Solutions. That lags well behind LSU’s Lloyd Cushenberry (55 percent), Washington’s Nick Harris (55 percent) and Wisconsin’s Tyler Biadasz (54 percent).

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