The Tennessee Titans gave themselves a massive upgrade at the center position after the team didn’t re-up with Aaron Brewer, who ultimately signed with the Miami Dolphins, and signed Lloyd Cushenberry to a big free-agent deal.
To be fair, Brewer actually posted a better PFF grade than Cushenberry in run-blocking last season, with Brewer scoring 6.3 points higher than Tennessee’s new center.
However, the gap was much wider in pass protection. Cushenberry gave up just one sack and 14 pressures in 647 pass-block snaps, earning him a PFF pass-block grade of 76.4 in pass protection.
Meanwhile, Brewer surrendered six sacks and 34 total pressures in 622 pass-block snaps and finished with a PFF pass-block grade of 52.5, 23.9 points lower than Cushenberry’s.
Despite all that, PFF’s Thomas Valentine ranked Brewer three spots higher than Cushenberry in his center rankings ahead of the 2024 campaign. Brewer was 11th, while Cushenberry was 14th.
Here’s what Valentine said about Brewer:
Brewer spent one season as the Titans’ starting center before signing a three-year, $21 million contract with the Dolphins. He is known more for his run-blocking abilities, earning a sixth-ranked 78.7 run-blocking grade in 2023. The Dolphins will hope Brewer can improve as a pass-blocker.
And here’s his write-up on Cush:
Cushenberry had a career year in 2023 with the Denver Broncos before earning a payday with the Titans in free agency. The former third-round pick earned a 73.2 grade in 2023, ranking 10th among centers, and allowed just 14 quarterback pressures.
Now, this is not to say that Brewer is terrible, but anyone who watched him last season knows damn well he isn’t the 11th-best center in the league.
The eye test doesn’t bear that out, nor do the numbers. We haven’t had the pleasure of watching Cushenberry close-up yet, but even PFF’s numbers show he’s better than Brewer.
If you follow PFF at least somewhat closely, you’d know that the outlet tends to have a bit of a love affair with Brewer and often overrates him more than anyone else.
However, simply ranking him ahead of Cushenberry is downright egregious.
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