Dynasty Rookie Spotlight: Derrick Henry RB, University of Alabama

Derrick Henry

6’2 1/2″
247 pounds
130″ – Broad Jump
37″ – Vertical
11.5 – 60 yard shuttle
22 Reps on Bench
4.54 – 40 time

NFL Comparison– Arian Foster-Brandon Jacobs hybrid with more speed

We felt the top come off Lucas Oil Stadium because we were in the building when Derrick Henry blew up the 2016 NFL Combine. It was all just gravy for Henry-truthers such as ourselves, who experienced a fevered sensation from the very first snap we witnessed his freshman year.

No, he’s not a generational talent in the image of Adrian Peterson, Todd Gurley, or Leonard Fourtnette – not a 13 on a scale of 1-10, but make no mistake, Derrick Henry is a super-freak who’s had the letters “N” “F” “L” written all over him since high school.

While some experts love to project Henry between the tackles in a man-blocking scheme, we happen to appreciate him most in the one-cut zone scheme a la Arian Foster. He is, however, a scheme-diverse back who proficiently executes inside and outside zone as well as man concepts.

The primary knocks on Henry as a runner are that he’s “tall”, “stiff,” and  that he has “below-average lateral agility.”  We agree he’s not a creator, which is the pre-requisite for being a generation talent. However, Henry will be an outlier in the NFL at what he does do well – which will be good enough to make him a Pro Bowl caliber player. We do make the concession that Henry is the type of back that may require an above-average offensive line to reach his maximum potential in the NFL.

A three-down back who can carry a monstrous workload, get downhill, punish/wear defenses down and break off monster home runs once they’ve been pummeled. If you run him into the ground during his rookie contract, so what? As Bill Parcells always says, “all these players are ‘four-year players.'”

Some also naysay Henry’s ability to catch the football. We say shame on you for not doing your homework and posing as a draft analyst. Henry wasn’t asked to do so at Alabama, but we were live at his pro day when he put a on a pass catching performance reminiscent of our 2014 trip to the Kelvin Benjamin pro day at FSU. Yes, it reminded us of a really good receiver’s pro day. It was clear as day Henry is an exceptional and naturally gifted athlete whom things come easily to.

Anybody who complains about Henry’s speed who hasn’t watched the tape, well it’s a cockamamie take. Again, shame on you. He rarely gets caught form behind in the open field, and if he is – he’s a load to bring down. Granted, his 60-yard speed is better than his 40-yard speed.

Factor in the SEC pedigree, and his plus character (which we at RosterWatch have learned to weight more heavily every year) – and Derrick Henry is a stud-to-be at the next level. Depending on where he lands, Henry will be square in the conversation for No.1 overall in Dynasty Rookie Drafts – and a virtual lock to be a Top 3 pick

(stop / start ability + acceleration through the hole and finishes defender off at 2nd level)

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