Derrick Henry (Alabama, RB) | 2016 NFL Combine Highlights
Let me get this straight. You"re an NFL franchise, and you might drop Derrick Henry on your draft board for reasons that have little or nothing to do with Derrick Henry himself?
You"re going to hold Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy and/or T.J. Yeldon against him? You"re going to look at a player at that position in a crimson jersey and see a red flag?
Seriously? It"s about time to hit the mute button on your stereotypes about former Alabama running backs.
The negative narrative is out there. It goes something like this: Nick Saban"s Process chews them up and spits them out, getting the best out of them in college but leaving something less in their tanks for the NFL.
See this Sporting News story: Alabama"s running back numbers cast shadow of doubt on Derrick Henry.
Or this piece from Pro Football Talk: Alabama running back reputation could drag down Derrick Henry.
The NFL is infamous for its convenient and lazy groupthink when it comes to college prospects. Draft evaluations often include a comparison to a former player in the league, even though no two players are created exactly equal.
Henry"s "NFL comparison," according to his evaluation on NFL.com, is former Auburn and New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.
Jacobs was a solid NFL player, with two 1,000-yard seasons during his nine-year pro career, but he was an inch taller and about 20 pounds heavier than Henry and lacked his breakaway speed.
One evaluation of Jacobs before the Giants took him in the fourth round of the 2005 draft said he lacked a second gear. You wouldn"t say that about Henry if you"d seen him run away from SEC defensive backs.
It just goes to show. The less you look at a player as a unique individual, the more likely you are to make a mistake.
To even suspect that Henry"s best days may be behind him because some of his predecessors at Alabama enjoyed better years in college than they have so far in the NFL is short-sighted, narrow-minded and just plain foolish.
For starters, Henry is listed at 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds. That makes him taller and heavier than Ingram, Richardson, Lacy and Yeldon.
Henry"s size and the numbers he put up as a junior Heisman winner last season - 395 carries for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns - suggest he"s the most durable of Saban"s Alabama studs at tailback.
Not to mention, the idea that those studs become duds at the next level isn"t even accurate.
Ingram has battled injuries during his five years with the Saints, but he"s accounted for almost 4,000 yards rushing and receiving. Lacy has two 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his three years with the Packers, was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2013 and has lost weight after failing to reach the 1,000-yard threshold last season.
Yeldon totaled 1,019 rushing and receiving yards last season as a rookie for Jaguars. Even Richardson, who"s been considered a bust, ran for almost 1,000 yards as a rookie. The Ravens must see something in him because they"ve signed a slimmed-down Richardson to a free-agent contract.
All of which is interesting but has little to do with where Henry should be selected in this year"s draft or what kind of pro he"ll become. That"s on him and the franchise that picks him.
Correction. That"s on him and the franchise that"s smart enough to pick him. As we learned the last three years, the best running back of the Saban era at Alabama is very much his own man.
Source: http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2016/04/nfl_teams_should_understand_de.html
