ex scout derrick henry looks like a fourth round pick

[Kyousukeneko]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000599022/article/former-scout-derrick-henry-looks-like-fourthround-pick

looks like conserns about his burst and lack of open feild

henry is not a good back to draft with our line. he will bust hard

[Sam_Z]

Naa not another Henry at HB, still trying to get over the Travis Henry debacle.

[FR Tim]

Tough to predict where Henry will go int the draft. If you look at any mock drafts or scouting sites they have him in top 50 or drafted in the 2nd rd pretty consistently. If he were to slip to the end of the third round I would be surprised.

Also have to take into account the scout is also quoted as saying he does not value RBs highly in the draft. That late rounders are just as serviceable. Others may rate talented RBs higher.

I also have a bias. At this point I would be intrigued to add him to the Broncos. With this system I would love to see a power running back like Henry moving the chains like a Lacy, Lynch or Bettis. I would be fine with a Jacobs -like RB as I have seen mentioned around here.

[InsaneBlaze23]

Not worth drafting in general. Bama backs have a lot of miles on their legs. And outside Lacy, they tend to not be much of anything in the NFL as of late. Ingram has had some decents games here and there, but thats about it.

[beastlyskronk]

More concerned with his upright running style especially at 6'3". He's going to tear an ACL during his rookie contract

[brianmcfarlane]

Its right to have a "bias" against RB's, this last draft the top 2 RBs (1st rounders) were Gurley and Gordon ... Gurley has been relatively successful and will probably be great going forward but Gordon has not been very good and is questionable going forward, probably not worth the high pick. TJ Yeldon was taken in the early 2nd and he has not been anything special he could be solid going forward. Jeremy Hill was statistically the best RB from the 2014 draft, he was the 55th pick in the draft - late 2nd round - this year he is average at best. Other than Gurley there are not any rookie RBs that have been an impact on their offense ... David Johnson looks like he will be solid, he was a 3rd round pick, 86th pick overall. Latavious Murray- 6th rounder, Karlos Williams (5.7 ypc) 5th rounder, Alfred Morris 6th rounder, Davonta Freeman 4th rounder ... lots of good RBs in the NFL that were picked in the 3rd round - Jamal Charles, Demarco Murray - IMO, (FWIW) Henry looks like a 3rd rounder but some team will likely make a mistake and take the Alabama product in the 2nd. If the Broncos get a compensatory pick in the 3rd and Henry was still there I would give him strong consideration. Drafting good OL is probably more valuable than spending a high pick on a RB.

[Kyousukeneko]

henry does no fit our system. and he needs s strong o-line to succeed which we obviously don't have

[crash123go]

More concerned with his upright running style especially at 6'3". He's going to tear an ACL during his rookie contract

Height at RB doesn't make him more likely to tear his knee up. I don't think the biggest big man, Brandon Jacobs, ever tore a knee up.

[crash123go]

Not worth drafting in general. Bama backs have a lot of miles on their legs. And outside Lacy, they tend to not be much of anything in the NFL as of late. Ingram has had some decents games here and there, but thats about it.

I used to think this too, but, a specific school doesn't profile every player that comes from there. There have been some good players come out of Alabama and Henry will be another.

[DEN4EVER]

Anywhere after the 3rd I'd be ok with.
Our top picks better be spent on the line

[beastlyskronk]

Height at RB doesn't make him more likely to tear his knee up. I don't think the biggest big man, Brandon Jacobs, ever tore a knee up.

He constantly dealt with injuries, particularly to his knees. The first game of his 2nd season he hurt his knee and missed 4 games. He had a torn meniscus in 2009 and dealt with knee problems for the rest of his career.

Tall RBs run high and as a result they take more shots to the knees. I have not seen Henry show the ability to get low and not only get low but do it quick enough to protect himself.

[crash123go]

He constantly dealt with injuries, particularly to his knees. The first game of his 2nd season he hurt his knee and missed 4 games. He had a torn meniscus in 2009 and dealt with knee problems for the rest of his career.

Tall RBs run high and as a result they take more shots to the knees. I have not seen Henry show the ability to get low and not only get low but do it quick enough to protect himself.

Isn't it more likely that just the RB position is prone to lower body injuries? CJ Anderson is 5'8 and always has leg issues.

[beastlyskronk]

Isn't it more likely that just the RB position is prone to lower body injuries? CJ Anderson is 5'8 and always has leg issues.

It is but I prefer smaller RBs because they have an easier time protecting themselves from those career threatening injuries.

[Butler By'Note]

I've never watched him and thought "that guy is a dynamic, NFL calibre back" I've always just thought he was a pretty good college back. He's a guy built to wear down a defense and get big yards closing out the game in the 4th, after he's battered that defense. But I don't know that he has any great NFL skills, I think he'll make it to the NFL, and might be an excellent short yardage guy, perhaps even a good FB, but I don't see him as an every down NFL running back.

To me the problem with Alabama RBs is that the Alabama o-line is usually so dominant and so much bigger and to a degree better than the opposition d-line, they dominate the LOS and open things up for the RBs to look good, but in the NFL, even the best o-lines won't have that much of an edge against the opposition.

[Butler By'Note]

It is but I prefer smaller RBs because they have an easier time protecting themselves from those career threatening injuries.

Upright RBs take no more leg shots than other RBs, in fact by being upright they present a much larger target area for the defender to hit. The shots that are likely to give catastrophic knee injuries usually come from the side, and size usually doesn't matter in that.

Looking at the top 5 RBs by yards this year, it's an interesting mix:
1. Peterson 6'1
2. Martin 5'9
3. Gurley 6'1
4. Stewart 5'10
5. Murray 6'3