Broncos C Lloyd Cushenberry Named to PFWA All-Rookie Team
The Denver Broncos received a Herculean contribution from their rookie class in 2020. Denver's rookies combined to play 4,939 total snaps, which was the fourth-most in the NFL.
Center Lloyd Cushenberry was one of those rookies the Broncos relied on the most. The ex-LSU Tiger started all 16 games at center, making him one of two rookies (Tampa's Tristian Wirfs) in the NFL to play in 100% (1,100) of their team’s offensive snaps.
For his efforts, Cushenberry was recognized by the Pro Football Writers of America by being selected to the All-Rookie Team. This is Denver's second offensive lineman to make PFWA's All-Rookie Team in the last two years, with left guard Dalton Risner garnering the honor in 2019.
Cushenberry was consistently available for the Broncos in 2020 and while he had a few shining moments, his rookie campaign was mostly up-and-down. Pro Football Focus graded him as the No. 37 center in the game, which was dead-last among qualifying centers. Obviously, that's not good.
PFF's grades can be highly questionable at times, though, and at best, are subjective. Mile High Huddle's Erick Trickel, whose individual grading system has been honed and perfected over the last eight years, wrote this about Cushenberry at season's end.
Lloyd Cushenberry | C: 42.2
There were some good moments from Cushenberry to help save his grade from being completely terrible, but his season was mostly bad. His lack of length really showed up multiple games, leading to a lot of issues in pass protection and as a run blocker. He was without question the worst run blocker the Broncos had this season and just couldn’t handle reach blocks very well. If he wants to remain a starter, he will need to put in a lot of work on how to improve and cover for his lack of length.
Ouch.
It didn't always look pretty from the outside but the Broncos seem to have been encouraged by Cushenberry's rookie debut. Remember, he didn't have an offseason training program or preseason and his training camp was significantly altered. One NFL coach told me that of all the positions most negatively affected by the pandemic (and loss of reps), center is at the top. Any rookie center tasked with starting in 2020, I was told, was going to play from behind the eight-ball.
Give Cushenberry time to grow and develop under the watchful eye of Broncos O-line coach Mike Munchak. Time on task could see him develop into a stud for the Broncos.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
