Alabama RB Derrick Henry looks like a second-round pick

Former Alabama running back Trent Richardson became a punch line the last few years, supposedly epitomizing why NFL teams no longer draft players at the position in the first round.

That narrative worked when not a single team selected a running back in the first round of the 2013 and 2014 NFL drafts. Then Georgia’s Todd Gurley and Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon busted that notion April 30. St. Louis took Gurley at No. 10 overall despite his ACL tear in the second half of last season.

The truth? The presence of a first-round running back is far from a guarantee. But teams still give it consideration.

That leads us to Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, Mr. All-Everything.

Is he a first-round pick?

He’s made tremendous progress during his junior season, and not just because he’ll more than double his 2014 carries during the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.

Here are his greatest assets.

• Absolute workhorse: Henry has been as durable and high-use as any SEC running back in history. At 6-foot-3 and 242 pounds, that bodes well for being able to navigate a 16-game NFL regular season.
• Home run potential: He’s not quick or shifty. He needs a bit of a runway to get started. But once he reaches top speed, Henry sometimes pulls away from good college defensive backs. He’s very hard to tackle once he gets moving, so he’s always a threat to break a big run.
• Raw strength: Built like your average tow truck, Henry even earned the nickname El Tractorcito during the Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma two years ago. He posted since-deleted video of himself flipping tires and pulling a truck prior to the 2015 season.
• Tempoing: Henry seems to understand when to hit top speed, when to keep it in third gear and when to switch speeds during the middle of a run to throw off pursuit angles.

Henry has learned to better utilize his strengths in 2015, and he’s also a unique athlete who thrives on high volume.

“I thought a lot of times he was running like a 190-pound scatback a year ago,” ESPN NFL draft analyst Todd McShay said on a recent conference call. “With that mentality, if you will. Just trying to always bounce things outside. This year he was a lot better at getting what’s available, trying to break tackles and make guys miss.”

Another big asset: This isn’t the 2012 Alabama offensive line. And although Calvin Ridley is an outstanding freshman receiver, he’s not yet Amari Cooper.

Henry has gained more yards on his own, sometimes after contact, than the previous standout Tide running backs. Often he’s running against eight-man fronts with a safety who is convinced Alabama isn’t going to throw. And he still makes it work.

He’s maximized what he can do as a ball-carrier. That may be enough to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back, which Henry did this year.

But NFL personnel people place a higher emphasis on a running back’s skills in the passing game. Particularly, if a franchise is to consider selecting a back in the first round, he must be a three-down player.

There’s still some questions about Henry’s ability to do that.

Despite his astronomical usage rate, Henry has just 16 receptions at Alabama during his entire career. Granted, No. 2 back Kenyan Drake has 24 catches this year, vulturing some of those opportunities. But the Tide hasn’t involved Henry in the passing game.

CAREER RECEIVING STATS, RECENT ALABAMA BACKS

During the pre-draft process, NFL teams will explore whether Henry isn’t an asset in the passing game or if Alabama just hasn’t utilized him on that front. At the least, though, Henry has something to prove as a pass-catcher.

His size, strength and willingness to craft proper technique should be assets in pass protection as well. He’s aggressive picking up blitzes. But according to Pro Football Focus, which grades every player on every play and has started to produce college data, Henry had allowed one hit and seven quarterback hurries prior to the SEC Championship Game, ranking 108th in the country in pass-blocking efficiency.

There are occasional questions about his decision-making as a runner as well. He could be susceptible to occasional tackles for loss in the NFL, or some times where he doesn’t follow the best path behind his blockers.

“Vision and patience was an area that I had some frustration with in the preseason watching his tape from a year ago, but I thought he improved this year,” McShay said.

Then there’s the pesky narrative about NFL teams being judicious with first-round picks on running backs, which does hold some truth.

Henry is an outstanding football player with a pro future. There’s no easy way to rush for 1,986 yards and 23 touchdowns in a single season, all-time SEC records that he could increase during the College Football Playoff. But, months prior to the NFL Combine, the odds of seeing him as a first-day pick aren’t great.

“Right now I’ve got a second-round grade on Derrick Henry. Got him as the second running back (behind Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott),” McShay said. “To me, he’s maximized what he can do. Listen, I’m not saying that he won’t be a first-round pick. He very well could be. But you’ve got to be exceptionally complete. You’ve got to be exceptional in the passing game.

“If there’s one area that he can improve his draft stock, I would say it would be catching the ball well at the Combine, individual workouts and pro days. That would probably be the biggest thing that he can improve upon between now and the draft.”