Did everyone miss the boat on Henry because he was big and from Alabama?

[abenjami]

I don't even think it's right to assume everyone else missed the boat on him. It's not like we grabbed him in the 4th or 5th round. 

Chances are someone else takes him in the second or third round if we didn't. 

[Stan]

Honestly it's just preseason teams will actual wrap up and gang tackle once it starts to count. He might look slower once teams start to stack the box and run blitz at him... I'd hold off on the excitement. Elliot looked really good in action for the Cowboys 

[Bobo]

He looked like he had a slow initial burst, and for a big guy he wasn't breaking a lot of tackles. But he always had ridiculous speed once a hole opened up and a mean stiff-arm. I thought his production would probably be a bit too much based on how well the line blocked for a high picked back...and that's really still to be seen.

[Starkiller]

27 minutes ago, abenjami said:

I don't even think it's right to assume everyone else missed the boat on him. It's not like we grabbed him in the 4th or 5th round. 

Chances are someone else takes him in the second or third round if we didn't. 

Between the late 1st round and the first half of the 2nd round, most teams did pass on him. And he does look like (early) a guy who should have been drafted significantly higher. 

[abenjami]

4 minutes ago, Starkiller said:

Between the late 1st round and the first half of the 2nd round, most teams did pass on him. And he does look like (early) a guy who should have been drafted significantly higher. 

We also passed on him multiple times. 

Most analysts pegged him as a 2nd round pick and they were right. 

[XAEA12]

3 hours ago, Titans279 said:

I wonder where JRob had Henry rated. We know he was reportedly very surprised that he was there at the 45th pick.

They also had just picked at 33 and 43 though and valued Dodd and Johnson over him, so I don't really know what to make of that.

I think they thought with Murray that a pick at RB was more a luxury and the D was priority 1, but a talent like him at that value (45) would be stupid to pass up.

The guy has the size strength and speed of AP sitting in the middle of the second round; unless Jim Brown is your starting RB, pick him and put him on the field as much as you can.

[abenjami]

5 minutes ago, JNew said:

I think they thought with Murray that a pick at RB was more a luxury and the D was priority 1, but a talent like him at that value (45) would be stupid to pass up.

The guy has the size strength and speed of AP sitting in the middle of the second round; unless Jim Brown is your starting RB, pick him and put him on the field as much as you can.

Now we're getting carried away. He doesn't have the speed of AP. 

[XAEA12]

3 hours ago, OILERMAN said:

After looking back on Henry's college career and seeing him in preseason I have a hard time deciding why Elliot was considered such a better prospect.

I can only assume he was connected to Ingram and Richardson and his extreme size was held against regardless of his production and athletic ability.

I'm amazed watching his burst to the hole, patience and his ability to make defenders miss him. His size wasn't an issue in the least this preseason. The worry about him not being able to escape the backfield is no more a concern than any RB in the league. He has very good hands and looks to be totally legit in every aspect. I'm sure he needs to improve as a blocker but all rookie RB do.

If Dallas called and said they'd trade Elliot for Henry I'm not sure I'd do it aside from the fact everyone claims Elliot is so much better.

This is definitely what happened. You watch a guy too much you lose focus, you take the strengths for granted and magnify the weaknesses - it's always why guys shoot up the draft late who you never heard of until the combine, fresh faces with less scrutiny. 

I'm lucky - I never saw the guy run a step in college or even before the draft, so to me his tape was jaw dropping. 

Every player has weaknesses, but his strengths are overwhelming to fresh eyes. 

[XAEA12]

4 minutes ago, abenjami said:

Now we're getting carried away. He doesn't have the speed of AP. 

I mean AP now, not when he was drafted. If AP was sitting in the 2nd round today with his talent but was 23 yo I wouldn't hesitate

[abenjami]

4 minutes ago, JNew said:

I mean AP now, not when he was drafted. If AP was sitting in the 2nd round today with his talent but was 23 yo I wouldn't hesitate

I doubt Henry is as fast as AP now. 

AP doesn't look like he's lost much speed over the years. 

Dude ran a 4.40 at his combine with a broken collarbone. 

[IsntLifeFunny]

It really is the subtle moves he's shown this preseason that are somewhat jaw dropping when you watch them again. He doesn't seem to waste any steps. The move he put on that Miami Lb in the hole was a thing of beauty. I don't care if it was against second string guys, not many RBs in the league can juke a guy out of his shoes simply by taking the perfect steps. He followed that up with a punishing stiff arm the next play that nearly decleated another LB. 

I remember not understanding the hate for the guy. I was always wary with the usuage, but the skill set was evident in college...but he's changed this preseason. He is making cuts a lot of 200 pound guys can't make. His first TD I couldn't stop thinking how strong the guy's frame must be for his knees to hold up against that kind of torque. I think we might have just hit on 3 special players on offense. If Dodd and Johnson can become solid contributors then this is going to be an amazing draft class. 

[OILERMAN]

10 hours ago, Jamalisms said:

The same reason some people thought Mariota was a Johnny Football starter kit. Bad parallels to existing failures.

Bad comparison, Mariota still struggles at times in the pocket and is still making the transition, coming from a spread offense is an issue even if no where close to Manziel's struggles. This would only work if Mariota already looked like Marino in the pocket

[OhNoMularkey]

When you consider the usually short primes for RBs, and that solid RBs can be found later in the draft, undrafted, or through FA, GMs usually use the higher picks on positions that are harder to fill with good talent, like QB, DE, CB, etc.

Henry was the 2nd RB drafted, and most likely, his talent was evident to other teams; teams just opted to fill other positions.  It's just a matter of drafting philosophy.

[Tormentedrose]

I am very excited about Henry but I still wouldn't sleep on Elliot.   He looked pretty impressive to me against Seattle.   The funny thing is that he looks to be a more physical back than Henry.  At least I think he seeks contact a little more than Henry.  I do think that the size influences our perceptions.  Automatically we think that a big guy is a mauler and a smaller guy is more elusive.   Obviously, the greatest backs are a combination of both.    Sports Science compared the two backs and they are both impressive.   One of Henry's most impressive tests was that he came in as the fastest player from zero to 5 yards in the last 3 drafts and was the fastest offensive player in this draft from zero to 20 yards.  I think that if you look at his Bama highlights it's really hard to evaluate him.  Their elite line opened up such large holes that he was able to his top speed very quickly and was never touched. Also, he glides in the open field and doesn't look as fast as he is.  It was easy to dismiss him as a big back in a fortunate system.  

Here is the link for the sports science if you haven't seen it.  

 

[luvyablue256]

9 hours ago, socaltitan said:

It's part of what makes the draft interesting. It's an educated guessing game. 

The thing is...if more people  (scouts/GMs included) guessed based on individual player production instead of the lazy though process that automatically projects a player based on another players reputation, this wouldn't happen so much. 

Glad Henry is a Titan