Report: Broncos planned to trade up for C Matt Hennessy in the 2020 NFL Draft

Hearing rumors that other teams coveted the players that the Falcons ended up selecting in the 2020 NFL Draft is nothing new. After all, we saw several reports regarding CB A.J. Terrell—Atlanta’s selection at 16—including that the Raiders had planned to take Terrell at 19, and that the Saints were planning to trade up in front of Las Vegas for him. Today we’ve now heard a new report, this time concerning 78th overall pick: C Matt Hennessy.

Today’s report comes from PFT and the NY Daily News, where a source stated that the Broncos had a trade in place with the Jets to move up to #79 overall to select Hennessy. Denver apparently had Hennessy higher on their board than LSU C Lloyd Cushenberry III, who they wound up selecting at pick 83. The compensation was rumored to be a fifth-round pick to the Jets. However, after Atlanta took Hennessy at 78, the trade was called off.

It’s another interesting data point to consider, as many draft analysts seemingly had a higher grade on Cushenberry than Hennessy. I did as well, although it was only a slight difference (Cushenberry was my #2 center, Hennessy my #3). It’s clear that the NFL was higher on Hennessy, particularly after these reports and seeing Cushenberry drop all the way to 83.

No matter what your grade on Hennessy vs. Cushenberry was, Hennessy was a tremendous value at pick 78. Most analysts—myself included—believed he’d be a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Hopefully the Falcons will have found their center of the future, and in truth, I don’t think the Broncos will be upset at all with what they get from Cushenberry.