There is no shortage of speculation about where Alabama running back Derrick Henry will be chosen in the 2016 NFL Draft, and no shortage of NFL clubs with whom his skill set would be a fit. An NFL college scouting director recently offered his take on the ideal landing spots for the Heisman Trophy winner.
"They (Alabama) run gap, they run man (blocking schemes). They use inside and outside zone, old-school run game -- traps, counters, stuff like that. Put him in the Panthers' offense? My goodness," the director told Yahoo! Sports. "But I could see him in the Sean Payton (Saints offense). I could see him in the Patriots offense. The Jets, the Cowboys, even the Vikings, a four-minute back you finish teams off with. He has a role for sure."
The director went on to describe Henry as a top-50 pick and a potential late first-round choice, while acknowledging that next week's NFL Scouting Combine could change things for the powerful 6-foot-3, 245-pound back. Perhaps not surprisingly, several of the clubs he mentioned as a scheme fit for Henry happen to hold a draft choice in the late first-, early second-round range. Among them: the Jets (No. 20 overall), Vikings (No. 23 overall), Panthers (No. 30 overall), and Cowboys (No. 34 overall).
NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks has suggested Henry could be a fit for the Vikings as well, noting that the timing could be right for the club to invest in a back to eventually replace star Adrian Peterson.
Henry piled up 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns for the Crimson Tide last year, and is considered among the draft's top prospects at his position along with Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott, Utah's Devontae Booker, Indiana's Jordan Howard and Arkansas' Alex Collins.
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