How Hunter Henry Will Make an Instant Impact as 2016 NFL Draft's Top TE

Use your imagination for a moment, and let’s pretend that getting a job in the NFL is just like searching for any employment.

There’s a step before you even send off your resume and sign the cover letter. You need to read the job description and make sure you’re a fit for the position so that no one’s time is wasted, including your own.

You want to be a tight end. A decade or so ago, the job outline would have been maybe two sentences, telling you to block, block some more and periodically catch a short-to-intermediate pass. Only the most premier players at the position were counted on to do much more than that.

Now? The times, they’ve changed.

Blocking is still essential, especially for power-running offenses that need tight ends to seal the edge. But the modern tight end also needs to be versatile and effective from the slot, in line and sometimes even when split out wide.

He has to have the size and muscle required to win contested catches and the speed to separate deep down the seam. And while there’s room for passing-down specialists, a tight end who can stay on the field for three downs as he checks all of those boxes comes with that extra, added shine.

Let’s meet the one tight end in the 2016 draft who can confidently hand in his resume. Let’s meet Hunter Henry, who’s been pegged as a potential first-round pick by many contributors to the mock draft machines, including NFL Network’s Mike Mayock:

Henry was rightfully so confident in his draft stock that the 21-year-old decided to sit out most of the combine testing, including the 40-yard dash. He already wore the tight end crown among this year's prospects and had little to gain by being a step slow during one sprint under the bright combine lights.

That decision made some talent evaluators grumble and groan. Then the 6’5” and 250-pound Little Rock native silenced those murmurs on familiar turf at the Arkansas Razorbacks pro day. He ran a 4.66 in the 40-yard dash, which would have placed him second in his position group at the combine had he participated. Henry also demonstrated his strength by bench-pressing 21 reps of 225 pounds, which would have ranked third among his position peers.

Sure, measurables are fun, and Henry isn’t lacking in any area that requires a stopwatch. But it’s the blend of those physical assets and his on-field production against tough SEC defenses that truly sets him apart.

Or if you’re in the habit of clinging to raw numbers, the cross-section between Henry’s measurables and play can be found in one digit: zero.

That’s the number of drops he had in 2015 when Henry received the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end. Looking back further, we can see more evidence of his magnetized hands. Henry played three seasons at Arkansas, amassing 1,661 receiving yards on 116 catches. Over the final two years of his collegiate career he recorded a mere two drops on 90 catchable balls, according to College Football Focus.

So he faced some serious target volume and regularly rose to the challenge, which is also a core job requirement of the modern tight end. Those targets often came with a high degree of difficulty in critical situations too. Of his 116 career catches, 93 of them resulted in either a first down or touchdown, as noted by Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com.

Henry’s honey-coated sticky hands have initiated the instant-drool reflex of many scouts on teams with a need at the position. One scout gushed about Henry when speaking to Howard Eckel of NJ.com, saying he’s “the most complete tight end to come out in years” and a “legitimate first-round pick.”

That’s high praise, and it’s especially important to zero in on the first part of what our nameless scout said. Before diving much further into Henry’s potential as a prospect and his talent ceiling, we need to gain an appreciation for how rare it’s become to nail an early-round tight end pick.

There simply isn’t enough high-end talent at the position funneling through the college feeder system to satisfy a growing thirst for more multipurpose athletes. Consider that in 2015, four tight ends finished with 1,000-plus receiving yards, and a decade ago in 2005 only one reached that plateau.

Yet of the top five tight ends in terms of receiving yards in 2015, just one was drafted in the past five years.

Tight end	Draft year	2015 receiving yards
Rob Gronkowski	2010	1,176
Greg Olsen	2007	1,104
Delanie Walker	2006	1,088
Gary Barnidge	2008	1,043
Jordan Reed	2013	952

The demand for premier players to replenish the NFL tight end talent pool has never been higher, and there are plenty of reasons to believe Henry will be another complete three-down threat.

We can begin with what’s actually the weaker area of his game: blocking. Yes, that feels like a strange place to start if it’s not a strong point. But as a tight end—and especially a rookie tight end—having your blocking described as average can be a glowing compliment.

Often, young tight ends are impressively versatile as athletes and can win physical battles in traffic for receptions while also beating coverage down the seam. But they’re limited and lack the complete package because it’s difficult to trust them in running situations.

Blocking has always been a core skill at tight end. Even with the changing use and offensive emphasis on tight ends, the ability to be at least a trustworthy blocker is still central thanks to the popularity of uptempo, no-huddle offenses that limit opportunities for substitutions. A tight end who whiffs too much and can’t seal the edge could find himself standing on the sideline even during passing downs, which is when he should be contributing.

That won't be an issue for Henry, because he often “strikes into the frame of defenders with inside hands and blocks with a wide, strong base,” as NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote in his scouting report. “He’s able to turn outside linebackers and cornerbacks out of their run fits and sustains his blocks as long as he can.”

That exact scenario played out during a game against Mississippi State in 2015. Late in the first quarter, Henry was in-line to the left of quarterback Brandon Allen. His assignment on the delayed handoff was to secure the outside running lane and keep the linebacker contained.

Credit: NFL GamePass

As the play developed, he took two strides to get into position and then firmly established a blocking base. He had to ride the linebacker around to his right, maintaining the emerging running lane up the middle. Accomplishing that meant relying on a combination of the proper angle to halt momentum and the proper leverage.

He did the first part by holding his ground and then thrusting to the right after contact. Now, the defender’s path to the ball-carrier wasn’t linear. It curved around, with that hole about to get just a little larger.

Credit: NFL GamePass

His job wasn’t done yet. Henry had to stay with that contact, using a strong right hand inside the linebacker’s shoulders to make sure his path stayed curved and the hole kept growing wider.

Eight yards later, running back Alex Collins had a nice, chunky gain on first down thanks to the daylight opened up and sustained by Henry.

Credit: NFL GamePass

There are times when Henry digs in with his hands unnecessarily as a run-blocker and flirts with the thin line between sealing off and holding. You can see it even during that play when no flag was thrown, which makes it a fine dual-purpose example of mostly good with a dash of bad. He had fine form while pushing off and making sure the gap stayed intact. But then he grabbed a little bit at the end.

That is less than ideal yet still more than adequate. Henry doesn’t need to be a blocking dynamo right away. He needs to be satisfactory or at least good enough that he can stay on the field. And he demonstrates the essential fundamentals to meet that standard.

“He competes as a blocker, which is rare coming out of college football,” said Mayock, via Bill Huber of Scout.com.

Some scout-speak translation is required there. He’s not going to face-plant as a blocker and can often do enough to be considered a valuable cog in that regard. In an era when college spread offenses are commonly turning tight ends into one-dimensional pass-catchers, Henry is ahead of his class by being merely average as a blocker.

That’s all any offensive coordinator should ask of him as a three-down rookie tight end, because what Henry brings as a receiver is far above mediocre.

He played in Bret Bielema’s pro-style offense that’s been a tight end factory. He led the nation’s tight ends with 739 receiving yards during his final season at Arkansas, frequently complementing those steady hands with quality body positioning and intense concentration while under duress.

He showed his entire repertoire as a receiver later in that same game against Mississippi State, finishing with a season-high 129 receiving yards.

Early in the third quarter, he lined up in-line to Allen’s right and then ran toward the opposite sideline on what seemed like a crossing route initially. But as he approached the boundary, Henry suddenly planted and turned upfield, accelerating to get a step on an already trailing defender.

He had created separation for himself to make the catch and in the process gave Allen a comfortable cushion to work with. After he did the ol’ turn and burn, there was nothing but green space ahead of Henry. He showcased his speed as the ball descended, and about three yards had spread between receiver and defender.

But Henry’s work was just beginning.

He leaped to meet the ball, an instinctive athletic move during a difficult over-the-shoulder catch attempt. That’s when an arm entered into the equation. An extra one that could have—and likely should have—disrupted Henry’s timing and focus.

Credit: NFL GamePass

But his eyes stayed locked in. So did his hands, and even though he was getting tugged, pulled, ridden and clawed at with the ball wiggling, Henry held on throughout the process of tumbling to the ground.

Credit: NFL GamePass

The end result of his stone grip was a 39-yard touchdown reception, one of Henry’s two against Mississippi State.

He scored a modest nine times over three seasons at Arkansas. However, that low total was more a matter of circumstance and scheme, with the Razorbacks being a run-heavy team in the red zone (and a run-heavy offense overall). Collins scored 20 rushing touchdowns in 2015, tying for sixth overall in the nation, and it was his third straight year with 1,000-plus yards on the ground.

So, it’s easy enough to shrug off Henry's low touchdown output. Then, the final scouting worry surrounds his lack of elusiveness after the catch. Henry averaged just 4.7 yards after the catch while breaking only four tackles in 2015, as Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus observed.

That reveals perhaps a lack of breakaway speed in the open field, which is a common problem for even the most elite tight end prospects. For example, here’s a note made about the Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski on his NFL.com scouting report back in 2010: “Does not have great top-end speed and may not be able to stretch the field at the next level. Lacks the elusiveness to make people miss after the catch.”

Gronkowski has done fine in that department and set a tight end record when he scored 60 receiving touchdowns over his first 70 career games. He’s the best tight end in the NFL, and he’ll also be one of the best ever. Elusiveness hasn’t been a problem, just as it won’t be for Henry.

Henry isn’t Gronkowski, because no one is, and it’s likely we won’t have a Gronk duplicate for quite some time. But Henry is a tight end who offers a complete package.

Being average as a blocker is actually a strength compared to most tight ends entering the league, not a weakness. He runs precise routes, with the footwork and speed to shed coverage. And his greatest skill is the very bedrock for any successful NFL tight end: silky soft hands that sparkled throughout a full season when he didn't drop a single pass.

He’s a likely second-round pick, though a leap into the latter half of the first round wouldn’t be surprising at all. Zierlein, for example, projects Henry will land with the Green Bay Packers at No. 27 overall.

Henry has the tools to be a well-rounded NFL tight end no matter where he’s drafted. That’s what his new team will get as it addresses a core area of need, injecting youthful talent into a key skill position.

Most importantly, it will also get a tight end who can make an immediate impact while playing every snap.