Derrick Henry, RB Alabama: 2016 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Derrick Henry isn’t your average running back preparing himself for the NFL draft. He’s a unique talent that has a rare physical gift for the running back position. When you think of your average running backs you probably assume around the 5’9-5’11 range and about 205-220 pounds in weight. Derrick Henry comes in at a height of 6 foot 3 and a weight of 240 pounds as a tailback. Now there’s been a good share of backs to come in at the size and weight, its not unheard of, in fact James Conner of Pittsburgh is 6’2 250 pounds and he as well plays running back. It’s the gift that comes with the size of Henry that makes him special, the acceleration, the speed and the ability are all far above what you get from most backs. His talents have not only made him the top recruit at his position coming out of high school but made him a factor in unseating former TJ Yeldon, another talented back now starting for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Heisman trophy he won this year was well deserved as he ran through every team that seemed to cross his path. The NFL is a league of former All-Americans and talents that are of the highest degree, you can essentially call every NFL game an All-Star matchup. Let’s take a look at what Derrick Henry can bring to the league as a prospect.

Strengths

Where better to start with the physical abilities that Derrick Henry posses. Looking at Henry on a height and weight basis you’d assume that he’d be a TE/H-Back type of player but it’s his speed through the holes and open field ability that allow him to play the running back position. There are few players who hit the open field and leave their opponents chewing on rubber, even fewer that do it at 6’3 240 pounds. Take a look at what Henry can do when he gets room to run

Henry is one of the more dangerous backs when he’s in the open field. His elusiveness isn’t something you would get from his size and his long strides are deceptively fast. One of the things I love most about Henry is that every time he touches the football he’s looking to score, his eyes are downfield and he’s consistently in the endzone. In fact he hasn’t played a game all year that didn’t feature him scoring 6 at some point. Not even Mark Ingram, former Alabama RB and Heisman trophy winner was able to accomplish those numbers.

Weaknesses

Now I know I’ve been harping on Henry’s size, his speed and his numbers but that may be the extent of his hype. Like former Alabama running back Trent Richardson, Derrick Henry struggles with vision and it’s easy to see. His numbers as they are show an incredible college player but what’s insane is that they should be even better. With the amount of carries Henry has had and the number of holes he has missed he should have 3000 yards on the year, but he doesn’t. He gets away with having probably one of the best running schemes in college football that has produced multiple NFL running backs. The problem with that is only one of those backs (Ingram) is truly making a name for himself while the others are showing struggles in their NFL transition.

In the video you can see Henry diving straight ahead yet a lane was created to his right that would’ve sprung him to the outside where he’s most dangerous. I can go through anybody’s highlight tape and pull all types of bad film out on them and explain why they shouldn’t be ranked where they are and make it look believable. It’s the power of film, but the problem with Henry is that it’s not a one time thing, it’s an all game thing and consistently in games he gets lost at the line and hit for minimal yardage when the hole was clear to one side or another. Another knock on his game is that for his size he plays as if he’s a scat back and it’s frustrating. I wish there was more film of him as a true bruising back but the most of his “strong runs” are people falling with him as he’s going down. That may be attributed to his straight up running style that has been known to cut NFL careers short of where they could be.

Outlook

Derrick Henry could be great or he could be searching for a job the way Trent Richardson is right now. It’s all going to come down to the team that drafts him and his ability to learn and succeed in the blocking system that they provide. I don’t believe Henry is a back that can be successful in any system, I think zone blocking is his key but I could be wrong. His running style is similar to Eddie George who if you remember had a good career in the mid to late 90’s but only averaged 3.7 yards per carry, a number that won’t provide in 2015. He’ll end up being a Day 2 guy based primarily on his physical attributes and upside but unless his vision is minimized through scheme or it greatly improves he may end up being a guy that falls by the wayside.