Chris Henry

[Chavez]

Do you take a chance on a phenomenal talent with 269 college carries?

 

Every year there's someone who knocks off terrific workout numbers and starts vaulting through mock drafts faster than you cay Mike Mamula. This year that someone is University of Arizona running back Chris Henry, and, just to make sure we have it straight, no, he's not to be confused with that Chris Henry.

 

Maybe you don't know this Chris Henry. But, then, why should you? He didn't rush for 1,000 yards last season. Or the season before that. In fact, he didn't rush for 1,000 yards, period, and I'm not talking about one year; I'm talking about a career.

 

In four years at Arizona, the junior ran for 892 yards, had one 100-yard game and produced an underwhelming average of 3.3 yards a carry.

 

But the NFL Draft is not all about the past. It's about projecting into the future, too, and that's where Chris Henry excels. After a marvelous NFL scouting combine where he ran a 4.41-second 40, benched 225 pounds 26 times, broad jumped 10 feet, 7 inches and had a 36-inch vertical leap, Henry's value started to soar.

 

That was back in February when one publication listed him as the 26th back in this year's draft. Now some people have him as high as fourth, and Henry's spate of visits -- with 11 clubs hosting him in three weeks -- speak to an interest that wasn't there months ago.

 

I spoke to a scout with a club Henry visited, and he raved about the guy. He talked about how hard Henry ran; how hard he hit; how impressed he was with his hands; and, of course, how impressed he was with his speed.

 

When you talk about Chris Henry you always talk about his speed. He won the 100 in the 2003 California high school track and field meet and tied Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson for the fastest 40 among running backs at the NFL combine.

 

NFL clubs love speed, but they especially love it when it comes in a 5-feet-11, 230-pound package of energy. Quick, now, tell me how many backs that size peel off a 100 in 10.56 seconds. I can't think of one, either, and apparently neither could teammates who called Henry "the mutant."

 

"Chris Henry has tons of ability," one scout said. "This is not just a guy. This is a very good back. There is nothing wrong with him. The only question you have is: Why didn't he play more at Arizona? Then you notice they changed their running backs coach. That tells you something."

 

Henry sat on the bench his first three years, backing up Mike Bell and Gilbert Harris. Then, in 2006, he did nothing until the last four games when he erupted for 380 yards and seven TDs -- including 191 yards rushing and three scores against Oregon.

 

When he was finished he had a career-high 581 yards, but compare that to someone like, say, Penn State's Tony Hunt and his 1,386 yards rushing in 2006, and you can see what Henry is up against in this month's draft.

 

"If you look at the games where I played and got more than two or three carries I was really productive," he said. "At the end of the season, when I got back in, I had a three-game span where I had something like 390 all-purpose yards (it was 363) and seven touchdowns. Those are numbers everybody loves to look at.

 

"You can take those three games and put them up against pretty much anybody in the draft. Once NFL teams take a closer look and take into consideration what my carries were, the games I played in and the games I didn't play in, they'll say, ‘OK, this is a quality back I definitely want on my team.' "

 

Henry insists he's not a risk. He believes he should be a first-day draft pick, and he tells anyone willing to listen. Lately, a lot of people have been -- with Tennessee, Minnesota and St. Louis the most interested, he said.

 

But it's not Chris Henry's ability that intrigues me as much as it is this: He doesn't apologize or alibi for his less-than-flattering numbers at Arizona. In fact, he wants NFL clubs to address them, dissect them and question them because, he said, he's not the back those figures say he is.

 

PFW's draft guide has him as the 9th best back in the draft with a low 3rd/high 4th round grade.

[piratesownninjas]

He is on my list for sure.

[Chavez]

He is on my list for sure.

 

His lack of production is relatively explicable - let's face it, Mike Bell was a pretty good RB, so he sat behind him for 2 years, and then had some off-field issues that screwed up his junior year.

 

One thing that IS attractive about him is that I think there is something to the "fresh legs" factor - whereas most stud RBs get however many carries in HS, then get several hundred in college, then get hammered in the pros, Henry has had what amounts to a 3 1/2 year break from the pounding, meaning his NFL shelf life might be a bit longer than most.

 

Probably not a MAJOR factor, but one that would come into play in an "all things being equal" scenario. He's an intriguing prospect, that's for sure.

[darin3]

I posted quite a bit on him in the Advice forum (with Bronco Billy offering some good info on him as well). If I feel like it, I'll dig up the thread. Or you could mosey over there yourself and check it out for yourself.

 

Edit: OK, here it is...

Edited April 18, 2007 by darin3

[Bronco Billy]

Before we get too carried away with Henry's outrageous combine numbers, let's get a little perspective, shall we?

 

Henry played for an AZ team that finished .500 this past season, but was vastly improved over the previous 3 years - so he wasn't playing with a bunch of worthless slobs his last season there. His claim to fame in college is his 1 - that's right, 1 - big game of against Oregon, the 78th ranked run D that gave up an average of 148.6 ypg rushing, and 2 solid games against Stanford, the 117th ranked run D that gave up an average of 210.5 rushing ypg and Washington State, the 32nd ranked run D that gave up an average of 114.1 rushing ypg.

 

The PAC-10 is loaded with really bad Ds, but aside from the Oregon game, he hardly scorched any of them. Throw out that Oregon anomoly & Henry went 136 carries for 390 yds - a whopping 2.87 ypc against predominantly PAC 10 run Ds - and 5 TDs. He amassed an amazing 2 rushing yds on 6 carries against LSU, 10 rushing yds on 9 carries against UCLA, 19 rushing yds on 9 carries against Oregon St, and 38 rushing yards on 16 carries against archrival ASU.

 

Henry has a gigantic immaturity streak that got him benched for part of the season, & he had constant run-ins with his coaches. He doesn't like to do any work between the tackles and tries to bounce everything outside.

 

So while he put up great measureables at the combine - because if he hadn't, no one here would even give him a sentence's worth of notice - he runs more like a poor man's Tatum Bell, but with a lot more crappy attitude.

 

My advice - let someone else take a flyer on him in the 2nd round of your FF draft. This guy has some potential because of his physical skills, but he also has bust written all over him, despite his irrational flight up the draft "experts" boards. He ought to be lasting until the late 3rd/mid 4th round in FF drafts, where he might be worth a shot, but he's going a whole lot higher than that right now.

Edited April 18, 2007 by Bronco Billy

[MikesVikes]

Btw, there will be plenty of duplicate names in the league after this next draft. Are they running out of names?

[Chavez]

Btw, there will be plenty of duplicate names in the league after this next draft. Are they running out of names?

 

When we hit the second guy named Brandon Manumaleaua, I'll start worrying about that.

[Clubfoothead]

 

Sounds a lot like THAT Chris Henry.

 

:oldrolleyes:

 

If I'm reading darin's link correctly I think I agree with BB, I'd probably take Brandon Jackson first.