9. Lloyd Cushenberry III, IOL, LSU
Height: 6’3″ Weight: 312
40-Yard Dash: 5.27 seconds
Bench Press: 25 reps
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: Lloyd Cushenberry III was a three-star prospect coming out of Dutchtown High School in Gelmar, Louisiana, who played offensive tackle while a prep athlete. He gave serious consideration to offers from Mississippi State and South Carolina, but ultimately stayed close to home to play for the Tigers.
In 2017 Cushenverry played a handful of snaps at both guard and center, but he slid inside for the 2018 season to become LSU’s starting center. He was a rock for the Tigers during their 2018 campaign, allowing just eight total pressures.
Last year was a bit of a mixed bag. While Cushenberry was part of a team that made a run to a national title, he struggled with the protection part of the game. Unlike 2018, Cushenberry allowed a stunning 34 total pressures on the year and allowed multiple pressures in all but four of his 15 games, as charted by Pro Football Focus.
Stat to Know: In addition to those pressure numbers, Cushenberry gave up a career-high four sacks last season. Sure LSU was more of a passing team, but that is tough to do, especially with a quarterback like Joe Burrow behind you.
Strengths: In the run game, Cushenberry is a force. He works combination blocks extremely well, he has solid lateral quickness which makes him functional in a zone blocking scheme, and will anchor and move even the biggest of nose tackles on gap/power designs. His upper body strength is impressive, as he can torque and twist more talented athletes into the turf from any angle. His hands are also a weapon for him, as he can win a block early when he strikes first.
In pass protection, there are issues to address but he is constantly looking for work when uncovered, and he shows good awareness for stunts and defenders crossing his face. He saw a lot of bull rush moves from Alabama and handled them well for the most part. Against Derrick Brown in the Auburn game he had an impressive pass-blocking rep where Brown employed a bull rush but he was able to stop the bit DT in his tracks by anchoring and getting his hands inside the defender’s frame, winning the block.
Weaknesses: At the outset, he would benefit from throwing the first punch more often. On those occasions where he waits to fire his hands, it seems he has the most difficulty recovering. He should learn to press the issue more and force defenders to counter what he does quickly after the snap. That would put him in a better position to dominate his opportunities. While he does have good lateral quickness, sometimes that hurts him when he quick sets. He gave up some immediate A-Gap pressures last season when trying to quick set, particularly against swim moves. One also hast to wonder about the drop in production from 2018 to 2019. In Joe Brady’s offense, the LSU Tigers employed a five-man protection scheme on the vast majority of their passing plays, leaving their offensive linemen on an island more often than not. That might point to potential scheme fit limitations as you consider Cushenberry for the next level.
Conclusion: For what he does in the run game, and how he handles bull rushes in the interior, there is a market for what the LSU center offers a prospective NFL organization. Getting him into a play-action heavy offense that relies on heavier protection schemes would be a way to use him instantly as a rookie, by giving him help on the interior and avoiding the one-on-one situations that seemed to give him the most trouble. Also getting him to be quicker with his hands, and be more active rather than passive, will enable him to be more dominant in the protection game. There is a solid player in side of him, and with a bit more refinement and some scheme help, Cushenberry can be a solid contributor as a rookie.
Comparision: B.J. Finney. Both Finney and Cushenberry win with strength, especially in the running game. There was a time when Finney lacked the quickness to handle slants and stunts on the inside, and you can see Cushenberry having a similar transition to the NFL