Faust
MVP
A 'Derrick Henry effect' in the 2020 NFL draft? If so, we see one possible clone (January 16, 2020)
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There still is a strong group of talent atop the RB class this year. We’re fans of the upper crust; in some order, J.K. Dobbins (Ohio State), D’Andre Swift (Georgia), Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin), Zack Moss (Utah), Travis Etienne (Clemson) make up parts of the first and second tier of what still should be one of the better RB classes in recent years.
But there’s no battering ram among them. Sure, all can win with some measures of power and force. None pack the same punch or possess a Henry-sized frame.
If there’s one back who could be a fairly decent facsimile, it would be Boston College’s AJ Dillion. At 250 pounds — and a body-fat percentage in the 6-to-8 percent range, scouts estimate — Dillon certainly has that kind of frame.
He’s also expected to be an NFL scouting combine winner if his past testing numbers hold true. Dillon should kill the vertical-jump portion of the testing — a measure of power and lower-body explosion — and he has been tested in the 4.4-second range in the 40-yard dash in college.
“That is probably the one back in this class I can think of [who] matches up physically and style-wise” to Henry, the national scout said.
Dillon’s body of work as a runner also has some Henry parallels. In 35 games at BC, Dillon ran 845 times for 4,382 yards (5.2-yard average) with 38 TDs. Compare that to Henry running 602 times for 3,591 yards (6.0-yard average) with 42 TDs at Alabama from 2013-2015. Interestingly, both were overlooked as receivers, too. Dillon put up a receiving line of 21-236-2, and Henry totaled 17-285-3 through the air.
Dillon figures to be a late Day 2 or early Day 3 option. With some of those key underclassmen thinning the position, and with Dillon’s possible combine bump, he could work his way into the top 75 or so picks. And don’t overlook the possible Henry factor if he keeps up his bludgeon-running on Sunday against the Chiefs and drags his Titans to a Super Bowl.
“I don’t know that they’re the same player, and Henry wasn’t even Henry before this season,” the national scout noted. “But I suppose there could be that team or two out there that sees the [parallels] and wants to run that kind of system. I could see that happening, sure.
“It’s easier to see something when it’s already been done [in the league], and the playoffs carry that extra weight, so to speak.”
Extra weight equals extra force. It will be fascinating to see whether Henry’s playoff run can dent what has been a decades-long priority shift away from the power run game and toward the pass.
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