Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Rams 2nd pick, Darrell Henderson, RB
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May 5, 2019 at 11:12 am #100989znModerator
from NFC West draft grades: Cardinals get sexy, Seahawks get a steal
BIGGEST SLEEPER: Darrell Henderson, RB, Memphis
Los Angeles Rams, Round 3, No. 70 overallHow worried are the Rams about Todd Gurley’s balky left knee? Sean McVay, Les Snead and Co. haven’t publicly stated anything alarming about the highest-paid running back in football, but actions speak louder than words. And while L.A.’s decision to match Detroit’s offer sheet for restricted free agent Malcolm Brown back in March was slightly notable, the Rams’ aggressive trade up for Henderson last Friday created a legit stir. Insurance policy or not, Henderson does project as a perfect fit in McVay’s outside-zone running game. This one-cut back is an absolute home run hitter. In 2018, he averaged a whopping 8.9 yards per carry — for the second consecutive season, by the way — while piling up 1,909 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. According to Pro Football Focus, Henderson averaged 6.2 yards per carry after contact(!!), nearly a yard more than any other player in college football averaged last season. Henderson’s film is fun to watch, and McVay will have fun deploying him as a change-of-pace terror (or more?).
May 5, 2019 at 12:38 pm #100992AgamemnonModerator10. Darrell Henderson, RB, Los Angeles Rams (No. 70 overall pick)
Play style: Outside runner, slasher.
Team scheme: Outside zone.My second favorite running back in the draft after Josh Jacobs was Henderson. In the past two seasons, he averaged a ridiculous 8.9 yards per carry. He’s built low to the ground and slashes with violence. He excels on outside runs, and once he makes his cut, he’s decisive and extremely hard to bring down, which makes him a perfect fit for the Rams’ outside zone system.
Henderson could be a starting back for a lot of teams, but with the health of Todd Gurley in question, he’ll provide the Rams with important depth and another back to carry the load in their run-heavy attack. Additionally, he’s an effective receiver who accumulated 758 receiving yards in three years at Memphis. This will allow Sean McVay to use him in the passing game similarly to the way Gurley is deployed. He could challenge for 800 all-purpose yards as the No. 2 back in Los Angeles.
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Rams third-round pick Darren Henderson excels on outside runs, and once he makes his cut, he’s extremely hard to bring down, making him a perfect fit for Sean McVay's outside zone system.
From @FB_FilmAnalysis https://t.co/pNp9LrVXHb pic.twitter.com/vgYUl1WFsH
— The Athletic (@TheAthleticLA) May 2, 2019
May 6, 2019 at 7:54 pm #101034znModeratorfrom 2019 NFL Draft: Lance Zierlein’s favorite picks by round
Darrell Henderson, RB, Memphis
Drafted: 70th overall pick, Los Angeles RamsTodd Gurley’s knee injury limited him down the stretch last season, and the Rams’ offense suffered because of it. The team may look to limit Gurley’s workload, and the addition of Henderson means that explosiveness will not be sacrificed when the RB2 is in the game. Henderson averaged 8.9 yards per carry over his last 344 rushes and had 11 touchdowns of 54-plus yards in 2018 alone. The high-flying Rams just super-charged their depth at running back.
May 7, 2019 at 10:22 pm #101088znModeratorI tried to find something for those links. This is a close as I could get.
I don’t know what happened with that post. The tweet you put up is what it was originally intended to be. I will take out my version and leave your version (edited).
May 8, 2019 at 10:42 am #101103znModeratoronce he makes his cut, he’s decisive and extremely hard to bring down, which makes him a perfect fit for the Rams’ outside zone system.
More on that:
.
One of interesting things about this is the 'vision' it takes to run OZ effectively is different from a lot of run concepts. Some backs simply don't have the discipline to hold the line, make one cut, and get upfield. Henderson obviously does. I fux with the vision pic.twitter.com/C4pd24i99s
— Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) May 8, 2019
May 8, 2019 at 8:37 pm #101132AgamemnonModeratorMay 10, 2019 at 1:00 am #101216znModeratorYARDS AFTER CONTACT PER ATTEMPT
Yards per carry is an imperfect metric that fails to divorce offensive line play from running back play. Yards after contact per attempt, however, adds more context and gives a more accurate representation of a runner’s ability with the ball in his hands, independent of the blocking in front of him.
Since we began tracking college players in 2014, there have been 1,332 instances of a running back totaling at least 65 carries in a single season. Of those 1,332 seasons, Henderson’s 2018 season (on 214 attempts) ranks best in yards after contact per attempt (6.16). His 2017 season (on 128 attempts) ranks second-best (5.60).
Among all running back seasons with at least 200 carries,Henderson’s 2018 season is 21.8% better than the next-best season on record.
Add it all up, and Henderson might not get a bell-cow workload in Year 1, but his ability and landing spot add up to a sky-high long-term potential.
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May 11, 2019 at 9:03 am #101251znModeratorRams think Darrell Henderson can be like Alvin Kamara in their offense https://t.co/GD0PEEqsB9
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 10, 2019
May 11, 2019 at 10:33 am #101254znModeratorRams43
After watching that 5th Behind the Grind episode, I’ll say this…
Both Snead and McVay wanted this Henderson kid real bad. Like 2 hungry coyotes eyeing a pork chop.
Can’t wait to see how McVay is gonna use him.
May 11, 2019 at 11:22 am #101255Billy_TParticipantIt’s obviously waaay too soon to really assess any of this, and I know I’m jumping the gun months in advance, but . . .
I love the Henderson pick. Yeah, it would have been nice if they could have gotten him later, but at that point in the draft, the pickins for game-changing backs were getting slimmer and slimmer, so I wouldn’t have risked it.
McVay should be able to use this kid to great effect, and I’m betting he’ll find a way to drive opponents nutz. Gurley, no doubt at this point, knows he has to share time, and will be all in. Not so sure he would have been prior to this season. But now? Yeah, he knows he can’t carry the entire load anymore.
Again, too soon to tell, but I love the pick under that qualifier. Same with Long and Scott. Great “value” for both of them, plus “need and fit.” Like the Edwards and Gaines picks too, though was hoping for a bigger DT. Gaines does seem like he’ll give the Rams his all, and opposing offensive lines won’t like him much. Tenacity can be very annoying.
May 11, 2019 at 3:32 pm #101256InvaderRamModeratorGurley, no doubt at this point, knows he has to share time, and will be all in.
i don’t think he’ll care.
May 14, 2019 at 1:40 pm #101343znModeratorDave Richard@daverichard
“[T]he Rams already acknowledged the need to lighten (Gurley’s) load. … By draft night, the Rams were sure they’d found their guy (Darrell Henderson). …They even considered pouncing with the 45th overall pick to make sure another team wouldn’t swoop in.”===
Darrell Henderson's college coach raves about RB's fit with Rams https://t.co/dwybOSMqQk
— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) May 14, 2019
May 14, 2019 at 9:37 pm #101364AgamemnonModeratorMay 14, 2019 at 10:17 pm #101366znModeratorRookie Darrell Henderson might be perfect fit in Rams ‘change-of-pace’ role
Some are comparing third-round draft pick’s explosiveness to Saints running back Alvin KamaraRYAN KARTJE
In March 2017, two months after he was hired as Rams coach, Sean McVay brought in a little-used veteran running back on a free-agent visit.
Over five injury-riddled seasons in Dallas, Lance Dunbar didn’t play a featured role. He’d never reached 50 touches in a season and had just one career touchdown. Nonetheless, McVay saw in Dunbar an underutilized, all-purpose puzzle piece that could unlock his multifaceted offense. The slashing 5-foot-8 back, McVay believed, would be a perfect pass-catching complement to Todd Gurley. He told Dunbar his skillset reminded him of Chris Thompson, whose explosiveness as a diminutive change-of-pace back helped take his offense to another level in Washington.
It seemed like a promising fit with Dunbar. Until his knee intervened.
Soon after signing a $3 million deal with the Rams, the oft-injured back landed on the “physically unable to perform” list. He touched the ball in just two games in 2017, never quite regaining his explosiveness. The next March, he was cut.
Ever since, the Rams have been searching for the right fit for a role McVay has long viewed as crucial to his offense. They considered a few options in the middle rounds of last year’s draft – a group which included the likes of Colts running back Nyheim Hines and Atlanta’s Ito Smith. But, Rams general manager Les Snead said, “a couple of enemies chose those change-of-pace backs ahead of us.”
They couldn’t let the same scenario play out again. Whether or not Gurley’s knee is worse than the team has led on, the Rams already acknowledged the need to lighten his load. So they did their due diligence on many of the draft’s running backs. They were looking for “a very specific human being,” as Snead put it – a compact, explosive runner, with great hands and great vision, who could motion into the slot and run routes, but also take an off-tackle handoff, break through tackles and go the distance on a stretch play.
By draft night, the Rams were sure they’d found their guy. His measurables suggested he was a perfect fit. They wondered if he might add “a Kamara element” to an offense that was already quite explosive without such a weapon. They even considered pouncing with the 45th overall pick to make sure another team wouldn’t swoop in.
“We’ll play against him and you’ll feel it,” Snead warned the war room.
So the Rams traded up, sacrificing a valuable compensatory third-round pick to move to No. 70.
University of Memphis coach Mike Norvell was watching as picks ticked off the board in the third round, crossing his fingers that the Tigers’ top running back would wind up in an offense that suited his unique abilities. When the Rams finally selected Darrell Henderson, Norvell rejoiced.
It was a perfect marriage, he thought.
“I don’t know if there’s a better fit in the NFL for him than the Rams,” Norvell said.
Norvell had already digested hours of the Rams offense over the past year, gleaning what he could. He noted how similarly he and McVay used running backs, deploying them all over the field. Memphis handed off to its backs out of shotgun formation more frequently. But like the Rams, the Memphis offense subsisted on a heavy dose of outside zone runs, which asked backs to run off tackle while patiently reading the defense before cutting upfield.
The Rams ran more outside zone than any other team in the NFL last season. That scheme can be a difficult adjustment for some backs, but for the 5-foot-8 Henderson, it shouldn’t be an adjustment at all. Over the past two seasons, according to Pro Football Focus, he led all of college football with a staggering 10.7 yards per carry on such runs. Highlight reels offer endless examples of how Henderson’s extraordinary vision could translate to an NFL zone blocking scheme.
“The number of explosive runs he’s had on stretch plays is incredible,” Norvell said. “I think he was the most dynamic back in college football last year because of it.”
Henderson won’t even be the most dynamic back in his own backfield with the Rams, assuming Gurley returns to full health. But operating out of a committee isn’t a new concept for him, either. Even as he finished second in the nation in rushing last season, Henderson accounted for fewer than 35 percent of his own team’s rushing attempts.
For Memphis, that was by design … to a point. Often, when Norvell resolved to give Henderson more carries, he broke off huge gains that rendered longer drives unnecessary. Norvell didn’t complain. Over the past two seasons, Henderson tallied 18 runs of 50-plus yards — an insane two-year total that no collegiate running back over the past decade can match.
Still, in spite of that historic efficiency, Henderson shared carries with fellow running backs Patrick Taylor Jr. and Tony Pollard, who combined for 1,674 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns of their own last season.
“To have multiple explosive backs that are able to stay fresh and able to put together a complete season, that’s important,” Norvell said. “When you look at the situation there, having Gurley, a guy who’s experienced, who’s one of the best, that can help both of their careers. They can be a dynamic duo.”
It’s not difficult to envision such an arrangement, with Gurley, health pending, in the lead role. The Rams already dabbled with a two-back approach last season, as C.J. Anderson became a crucial part of their run to the Super Bowl. Now, with Henderson, they’ll have a more explosive second option to complement Gurley.What the Rams will ultimately get from the 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 remains somewhat of a mystery. After missing two games at the end of last season with knee inflammation, then struggling through the playoffs, Gurley said in mid-April that his knee felt “pretty good”, but otherwise didn’t offer much detail. When asked if Henderson’s selection had anything to do with Gurley’s health, McVay shook his head.
“This had to do with (Henderson’s) skillset,” McVay said. “He was a player that we identified as a unique playmaker. He can obviously do some things as a runner, but the versatility that he provides and some of the things he can do are what’s so enticing for us.”
How quickly might we see that skillset at work? Norvell has seen enough of Henderson to know it probably won’t take long. Whether Gurley is healthy or not.
“I don’t think Darrell is a guy that you want to put any limitations on what he can or can’t do,” Norvell said. “I believe he can do it all.”
Trait: Through gap acceleration
What makes Henderson special is his all-time elite acceleration ability. Chris Johnson ran 1.40 from 0-10 at the NFL combine, Darrell Henderson 1.42.
Henderson gets to the 2nd level in a hurry and ruins angles of pursuing defenders. pic.twitter.com/aHlrqOn46N
— AngeloFF (@angelo_fantasy) May 7, 2019
May 14, 2019 at 10:26 pm #101368znModeratorThey were looking for “a very specific human being,” as Snead put it – a compact, explosive runner, with great hands and great vision, who could motion into the slot and run routes, but also take an off-tackle handoff, break through tackles and go the distance on a stretch play.
There was a debate after draft day about Henderson’s vision. A couple of draft write-ups said he didn’t have great vision, some said he did. Confusion abounded. It was an era of darkness.
Well I take the comment here as indicating that Snead at least thinks he does. They were looking for an offensive weapon that had a certain combination of talents, and presumably Henderson fits the bill. One of those talents is “great vision.”
I say, confusion over. It is now for us to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us.
Oh, and, there’s this, too:
. Over the past two seasons, Henderson tallied 18 runs of 50-plus yards — an insane two-year total that no collegiate running back over the past decade can match.
..
May 19, 2019 at 6:30 pm #101463znModeratorDarrell Henderson: Rams ‘best system I could get in’
In the aftermath of Super Bowl LIII and Todd Gurley’s slowdown at the end of the 2018 season, the Los Angeles Rams opted not to find another backup running back to boost the ground game in free agency. Instead, L.A. waited until the draft, specifically the third round, to grab their next tailback, Darrell Henderson.
An undersized speedster out of Memphis, Henderson already feels at home with the Rams.
“If you go back and watch my college film and you watch the Rams film, it’s the same,” Henderson told the Los Angeles Times this week. “I thought that was the best system I could get in. So everything worked out great. When I was talking to them, everything was clicking and we developed a relationship. The coaches told me they knew they were going to get me so it was the perfect fit.”
What you see on Henderson’s college film is a lot of yards and a lot of house calls. The Memphis running back left college with 3,545 rushing yards on 431 carries and 36 rushing touchdowns (44 in total). Henderson averaged 8.2 yards per carry during his college career and 8.9 YPC during his final two seasons.
While it’s highly unlikely that, over the course of a season, Henderson will be able to keep up that pace against non-AAC defenses, the running back doesn’t expect to carry the load in Los Angeles right out of the gate. Why should he, with a former Offensive Player of the Year in Gurley ahead of him on the depth chart?
“Todd’s a great guy and he’s someone that every running back should want to learn from,” Henderson said. “Getting to be there with him and getting to work with him every day is an unbelievable opportunity. I’m just going to take the knowledge he gives me and watch how he works and learn from it and bring it to my game.”
Henderson, along with Malcolm Brown, might have to spell Gurley more often in 2019 than the star back is used to. Gurley was uncharacteristically unproductive and sometimes absent in Los Angeles’ final two games last season, including the Super Bowl. He and the Rams denied his relative lack of action (16 touches, 47 yards, TD) was due to injury, though Gurley had missed L.A.’s final two regular-season contests with a knee issue.
The Rams’ plans for Henderson were hinted at in a behind-the-scenes clip promoted by the team, in which general manager Les Snead said in the lead-up to drafting Henderson that the back has an “[Alvin] Kamara element.” Rams coach Sean McVay said that Henderson had a “specific skill set” and could do “unique” things for the offense.
While those terms describing Henderson don’t scream “contender for the starting job,” it’s noteworthy that Kamara, also a third-round pick of the Saints and initially third on the depth chart behind Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson, was a lethal backfield option in his rookie season, averaging 7.7 yards per touch and scoring 13 touchdowns in his first year.
Might Henderson have the same impact on the Rams in 2019?
May 19, 2019 at 6:36 pm #101464znModerator#Rams rookie RB Darrell Henderson had the highest Breakaway % of all RBs in the NCAA last season (min 60 attempts) with 70.8%. His 2017 % of 60.3% was 2nd only to Bryce Love
PFF Breakaway % shows which runners earn the highest % of their yardage on big plays (runs of 15+ yards) pic.twitter.com/e3vyQLz6iN
— PFF LA Rams (@PFF_Rams) May 19, 2019
May 19, 2019 at 7:42 pm #101466InvaderRamModeratori see and understand the comparisons to kamara.
runner/receiver. explosive. tough to tackle.
we’ll see. again his agility numbers don’t stand out. and that’s important for me. but there are always exceptions. kamara being one of them interestingly.
May 19, 2019 at 8:09 pm #101468InvaderRamModeratoractually i just came across this article. his agility numbers according to this are actually not bad. not elite. but good.
short shuttle 4.29 seconds
3-cone 7.00 secondsHenderson stood on most of his combine marks but did rerun the three-cone (7.00 seconds) and short shuttle (4.29 seconds).
May 19, 2019 at 8:15 pm #101469InvaderRamModeratorwell. this is forcing me to readjust my opinion again.
completely on board with this pick.
May 19, 2019 at 9:23 pm #101471znModeratorthis is forcing me to readjust my opinion
What is the “this” that did that?
Side note. You know, the Memphis coach watched a lot of tape of the McVay Rams and built a lot of it into his offense there.
May 20, 2019 at 9:02 am #101474InvaderRamModeratorWhat is the “this” that did that?
Side note. You know, the Memphis coach watched a lot of tape of the McVay Rams and built a lot of it into his offense there.
for some reason i thought he has performed poorly in agility drills. but i found an article recently that showed his ss and 3-cone times. they’re actually pretty good. not elite level but good enough that they’ve quelled my concerns about his ability to cut. a ss time of 4.29 and a 3-cone of 7.00 is good.
and if he’s coming into an offense he already has familiarity with all the better.
his receiving ability also has me intrigued as well.
May 20, 2019 at 11:30 am #101477znModeratorLBRamsFan
I was talking to an offensive lineman yesterday for a Pac 12 team. He told me that the team they watched the most film on to learn the outside zone was the LA Rams. The team they watched the second most? Memphis. I thought that was interesting re [Henderson].
May 20, 2019 at 7:11 pm #101503InvaderRamModeratorjust a guess but i don’t think the offense skips a beat. and there’s a small chance they’re even better.
May 20, 2019 at 7:24 pm #101507AgamemnonModeratorJuly 6, 2019 at 8:49 pm #102740znModeratorRockRam
Living in the South, and being a UCF fan, it was really something to watch Henderson tear the UCF defense apart because that defense had serious speed. But Henderson simply out-quicks and outruns everybody.
I know that the NFL values it, but I think that fans sometimes don’t appreciate, that quick twitch/suddenness is a huge factor in a player’s game. It is a huge factor in ADs game…. maybe the largest. And it will be the #1 factor in Henderson’s game. His long speed is really good; but plenty of other NFL RBs have 4.5 40 speed. The difference is that ability to hit that speed in a burst, and to make those cuts and movements instantaneously.
July 6, 2019 at 10:37 pm #102742InvaderRamModeratorhe and everett are the two offensive skill position players i’m most excited to see this season.
July 10, 2019 at 1:42 am #102815znModeratorDalvin Cook and Reggie Bush walked into Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory and Darrell Henderson popped out. pic.twitter.com/rkWEDRfryM
— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) March 11, 2019
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