re: Is Derek Henry the least hyped pre-draft Heisman winner in history?

quote:

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He wasn't even a top 3 back in the SEC, and shouldn't have won the Hiesman.

He has decent vision, but he's desperately unexplosive, and has almost no cutting ability. He's fast once he has time to build up speed, but he won't be able to bully NFL D-Lines with pure size like he did in college.

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This is wrong on basically every point. I don't think it's possible to be any more misinformed.

Youtube highlights:


@1:42 - Presses the hole and cuts outside on a dime.

@1:52 - Shows great hip flexibility and quick feet to bounce the run outside. Hits full speed by his second or third step upfield (for the "he hits the LOS too slow" crowd).

@2:50 - Same

@3:08 - Breaks down multiple defenders in the open field

These are just a few plays that demonstrate what he consistently showed game after game.

HS 40

In highschool he ran a 4.54 40 and if the timer shown is accurate we can guesstimate that he hit the 10 yard split at ~1.64 (only a few RBs were under 1.6 last year; Gordon was at 1.63, Rawls at 1.72). Considering he's not put on a significant amount of weight since it only stands to reason that he's even faster now.