Why Alabama RB Derrick Henry should be at the Heisman forefront

When you couple the near earth-shattering news of the seemingly Cyborg-built University of Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough going down in a spring practice with a possible season-ending knee injury, with that of the defections of two talented backs in Altee Tenpenny and Tyren Jones (off-field transgressions), you get a bit of a conundrum with a RB corps that was once thought to be one of the deepest in the country.

Especially when you factor in the presence of penciled-in starter Derrick Henry, highly-touted incoming freshman Damien Harris and the Swiss Army knife-like weapon in junior Kenyan Drake, you can plainly see the quality depth the Tide believed they were trotting out this season.

Moreover, for the second year in a row the Tide will be breaking in a new starting quarterback, as well as four of the five starters on the offensive line, in addition to the best receiver in the program’s history in Amari Cooper (in addition to the second leading receiver in DeAndrew White).

It’s imperative that the Tide get back to running ball as they evolved into more of a passing outfit under offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin in his first season in Tuscaloosa. The best way to break in a ton of green talent is by lining up and forcing the opposition to prepare for an all-out ground assault.

In doing so, you provide the offensive line the opportunity to play moving forward which in turn takes pressure off the QB and receiving targets.

But without a noted power back on the team, it appears as though finesse concepts will have to be the way to go.

But Bama just so happens to have the best zone-runner I’ve ever studied on film at its disposal in one Mr. Henry, and he just may be what the doctor ordered for this particular set of circumstances.

I know what a great deal of you are saying in your heads right now: “But Murf, how can Bama not have a proven physical runner when Henry is, perhaps, the biggest RB in all of college football?”

I’m here to let you know, just because a player looks the part doesn’t necessarily mean he is who you think he is. I’ve played against plenty of players who’ve looked like Tarzan yet played like Jane.

That’s not to say that the 6’3″, 241-pound Henry is soft in anyway. It’s just highlighting how not every back has the same style even if they are built similarly.

When prior OC Doug Nussmeier came into the fold, he brought with him a true zone-blocking scheme designed to test defense’s ability to be disciplined within its keys while navigating against an o-line moving in lockstep.

It’s no wonder Henry was one of the main targets as he proved in high school how effective he was in an area blocking scheme.

As someone who played linebacker, I wholeheartedly believe this concept is one of the toughest to defend as it forces you to be aggressive while practicing a bit of patience — if that makes any sense. It can also tire you out a bit quicker than a traditional gap- or man-blocking scheme.

But it doesn’t necessarily wear you down mentally like when someone is whipping your butt with “Power” concepts.

The Denver Broncos made 1,000-yard rushers out of a host of undrafted free agents in the late 90’s behind a ZBS led by head coach Mike Shanahan and orchestrated by noted OC Gary Kubiak.

The reason being is that it doesn’t take a phenomenal athlete to be effective in an area blocking scheme as it’s one based off vision, football intelligence and decisiveness.

But what happens when you get a phenomenal athlete who possesses all those aforementioned traits?

You get “King Henry!”

I know it may be hard to believe, as Henry is built like a prototypical outside linebacker in an odd-front defense, but Henry may possess 4.4 40-yard dash speed when he officially tests at the NFL Scouting Combine whenever he comes out for the draft.

He’s a long-strider who takes a bit longer than average to get up to maximum speed, but once he does it’s pretty much curtains for anyone in pursuit.

Here’s a fantastic example of Henry’s superb ability to navigate area blocking. On this outside-stretch zone run, out of the “Pistol” formation, Henry manages to approach the run with initial aggression to get the defense flowing hard to the closed side of the formation.

Once he realized all the pursuing defenders were being streamed down (pushed toward the sideline), he got north/south by sticking his foot in the ground and cutting it back against the grain.

On this inside-zone run, Henry spotted the organic cut-back lane right away. He was able to read the stream so fast it almost made this run look like a misdirection. He also showed he has adequate open-field agility by making a defender miss with a two-way go.

It’s no wonder that Bama seems to deploy Henry in this manner on almost 90 percent of his runs. He will need to develop another pitch, so to speak, once he becomes the bellcow next season.

Case in point: Look at the patience shown by Henry on this particular cut-back play; look at the unreal speed once he climbs levels, too.

He struggles, at times, when the stream is pinned down and he has to hit the edges on those zone jaunts.

He also doesn’t seem to push the pile in the gap-blocking scheme as one would imagine with a 241-pound back. Some of that can be attributed to his height and his inability to always get his pad-level down.

But most of it is just his innate instinct and playing style.

Ever notice how Kiffin usually deployed former starter T.J. Yeldon, or even Drake, as the short-yardage back in goal-line situations?

Here’s a classic example of Henry’s propensity for trying to hit the perimeter when a run is designed for some between-the-tackles power.

Instead of following the combo block from the guard and getting four or five yards, he decided to treat it like a zone run and cut it back to the outside — running horizontally from the much smaller University of Mississippi defender Denzel Nkemdiche (5’11”, 207 lbs).

But if/when Henry improves on that aspect of his game, we may very well be looking at a superstar for the next generation due to his ability to generate explosive plays. We also must take into account his effectiveness in the screen game as he’s bust a few of those open, as well.

But his Heisman candidacy may be a simple case of uber-talent meeting opportunity due to the rash of defections from the Tide backfield.

One thing’s for sure: We will be seeing a ton of Mr. Henry — and his zone-running prowess — in the 2015-16 season.

And I, for one, can’t wait!