Four-fifths of the Falcons’ starting offensive line is set, with Jake Matthews at left tackle, Drew Dalman at center, Chris Lindstrom at right guard, and Kaleb McGary at right tackle. That leaves an open spot at left guard, with Matt Hennessy and Matthew Bergeron vying for the role.
Atlanta clearly thinks highly of Bergeron, having traded up six spots in the second round of this year’s draft to select the Syracuse blocker. However, according to Tori McElhaney of the Falcons’ official website, Hennessy took all of the first-team reps at left guard throughout OTAs. McElhaney cautions that there is no reason to think that Bergeron is anything less than advertised, and that the team merely wants to ease him into action at the professional level.
After all, 2021 third-rounder Jalen Mayfield — who had never played on the interior of the line during his collegiate career — struggled mightily during his 16-game audition at left guard in his rookie season. He lost the starting job to journeyman Elijah Wilkinson during last year’s training camp and ultimately spent the entirety of the 2022 campaign on IR.
Bergeron, like Mayfield, lined up exclusively at tackle in college, so a measured approach to his development makes sense, especially in light of the cautionary tale that Mayfield presented. And it’s not as if Hennessy is an incapable player. A third-round pick in 2020, Hennessy became the Falcons’ full-time center in his second pro season and graded out as one of the league’s best pivots that year in the eyes of Pro Football Focus’ metrics (though his stellar run-blocking grade of 88.1 compensated for a rather poor pass-blocking mark of 50.5).
However, just as Mayfield lost his job to Wilkinson, Hennessy ceded his starting role to Dalman last summer, and between that development and a knee injury, the Temple product appeared in just 157 snaps in 2022. All of that work came at left guard, and while that is obviously a small sample size, his 75.4 PFF grade — including an improved 69.2 pass-block assessment — would have made him a top-10 guard if he had enough snaps to qualify.
As he enters his contract year, Hennessy will certainly be motivated to fend off his younger competition. McElhaney, who did not notice any glaring issues with Hennessy’s performance in spring work, indicates that he stands a good chance of entering Week 1 as the starting LG. Training camp, of course, will bring more clarity in that regard.
If Hennessy loses out to Bergeron he can console himself with some very fine cognac.