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Why is Derrick Henry Not a First Round Pick?

Henry is a generational type player. My guess is that someone is going to trade up for him and snag him late first round. Just a hunch but he simply has too much talent regardless of his position. All time highschool rushing leading and broke the SEC rushing record in one year as a starter. Color me crimson colored glasses but the facts are what they are. We are going to be bragging about DH for years to come.
 
I think because they have no one to compare him to. I am not sure how much the Mileage thing is relevant, but much of his HS carries were not hard carries, one cut and gone, and they believe he had a superior Oline, and that Bama some how makes RB's look better than they really are. He should be a 1st round imo, you cannot argue that he not only broke the SEC rushing record, but did so with less carries. He has excellent acceleration, durability, vision, size, and is a threat to take it to the house at any time. He had most of his best games against the best competition in the SEC, and while I do see a drop off at the next level........when loose, he is a NFL linebacker heading your way with the speed of a sprinter.

Bottom line? Both he and Eddie are/were 1st round RB's. Henry will be a 1000 yard back this years in the NFL. I am not buying that he is is not agile enough, his other qualities more than compensate. That is my subjective opinion.
 
CoolBreeze said:
Henry is a generational type player. My guess is that someone is going to trade up for him and snag him late first round. Just a hunch but he simply has too much talent regardless of his position. All time highschool rushing leading and broke the SEC rushing record in one year as a starter. Color me crimson colored glasses but the facts are what they are. We are going to be bragging about DH for years to come.
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Yeah, I got a feeling someone will take him early than expected.
 
The interesting thing about Henry is he just doesn't fit the mold of what people would expect from the position.

The thing that has people looking at him differently though, is some NFL teams seem to think there's a lot that can be down with Henry catching passes. Then, suddenly being a big fast guy is nothing but an asset, the doubts that scouts might have seem to go away. So, I think he could go in the first round but I also think some teams are thinking of more unique ways to use him.
 
81usaf92 said:
Ill say he is 1st round talent, but he will most likely be 2nd round because of what teams in the bottom half need.
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Henry is the closest we had to NFL All Decade, Shaun Alexander, than the other backs. He is lethal in the red zone, and ability to take it to the house.
I agree, no way he goes to the 3rd like I am reading today. These predictions are like following Trump this year. Henry has some mystery around him, but I think in the back of GM and coaches minds is that he could be really special in the right situation. Stuff like this helps, in my humble opinion. Everyone should watch this.
One area that Henry clearly dominated? Was his acceleration..over the first 5 yards, in an all out sprint, Henry had the fastest time of any player, in any position........that we tested in the last 3 drafts.
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A player that is 6-3 247
 
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He is so deceptively fast. His size makes him look like he is lumbering - yet he is running away from some of the fastest DBs on the field.


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If Henry is what we think he is, he'll get paid eventually. A few years ago, getting picked early in the draft was a HUGE deal. The second contract is far more important to most NFL players under the current agreement.
 
The question is whether the combination of power and straight-ahead speed can overcome a slow first step and a lack of professional-level shiftiness.

And fair or not, there's the outstanding question of whether an Alabama RB can handle the lack of top-down enforced structure at the NFL level.

For every characteristic, both positive and negative, there's a, "Yeah, but...." going the other way.

For CYA purposes, I just don't see a GM risking a #1 pick on a RB with clear flaws, no matter how great a college player he was.

Call it smart career management or call it gutless. It just doesn't make sense for somebody trying to keep a low-to-mid seven figure job, of which only 32 exist for 7 billion people on the planet.
 
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I'd say it's a combination of the RB position being devalued in recent years plus there is a stigma of our RB's not panning out with the exception of Lacy.
 
The mileage thing probably hurts him or the belief that he's not a good receiver, but what do they expect? He stayed pretty busy pass blocking when not abusing enemy Ds on a team that didn't toss it that much. Heck, he had to have a few plays off.
 
From what I've read, reasons vary:

- Worried about his 40 time (a little slower than other backs)
- Mileage is a concern
- Didn't catch many passes out of the backfield in college
- Team needs
- Devaluation of the RB position with many teams going to RB by committee
- And the most interesting - the offenses teams use now operate better with backs that aren't downhill runners like Henry; he would need the right team to draft him

Frankly, this is what baffles me about the draft. Teams get hung up on specific players or positions and fail to see what a player like Henry might be able to bring to the team.
 
I watched the Sports Science clip on ESPN when it came out. The interesting thing to me was that he didn't have the fastest 40 time but he ran the first 20 faster than any other player at the combine. To me it is pretty important to get going quick. That is one of the keys to his success.
 
tidefanbeezer said:
From what I've read, reasons vary:

- Worried about his 40 time (a little slower than other backs)
- Mileage is a concern
- Didn't catch many passes out of the backfield in college
- Team needs
- Devaluation of the RB position with many teams going to RB by committee
- And the most interesting - the offenses teams use now operate better with backs that aren't downhill runners like Henry; he would need the right team to draft him

Frankly, this is what baffles me about the draft. Teams get hung up on specific players or positions and fail to see what a player like Henry might be able to bring to the team.
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The first 10 picks are more money picks in which they must get their fanbase excited so it's usually a qb,wr, and defensive beast, after that it is what a team is in dire need for. The marks from a combine are more to give the fans a reason to accept the pass on the player, ranking a player based on that team's specific need, and some misinformation to other teams. Also the 1st round is more of building a team around a certain player. Very few teams build around a rb since mileage affects them substantially more than basically every other position.

Henry has first round talent, but he is probably getting passed in the 1st. It's not because of these reports from pro days and the combine, it's because of the nature of the 1st round
 
His Mileage is overrated. He had a lot of carries for one year at Bama, but they couple that with his HS carries, which were enormous. But if you look at the film. it was like running track. He would take the ball, cut and and run to the end zone. The competition was very light. He has plenty of tread, and a good scout will take that into consideration. I think Derrick has 8 or 9 good years left.
 
If he doesn't go in the first round it's because teams are scared after Trent Richardson. No other reason why a back as good, as talented, and as hard a worker as Derrick wouldn't go in the top half of the first round.
 
Running backs aren't really valued nearly as much as they used to be. No surprise if he doesn't go first round. There may only be one first round running back this year. 15 years ago he would have been a top-10 pick.. every now and then a stud running back with Elite skills come along that you just can't pass up.. a can't-miss guy. Those are your first round running backs these days. In my opinion Henry isn't one of those can't-miss guys. However it wouldn't surprise me if he turned out to be an elite player
 
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