Carlos Henderson, Louisiana Tech
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 199 lbs.
Arms: 31 3/8”
Hands: 9 1/8”
Vertical: 36”
40-yard dash: 4.46 seconds
There are certain players that you watch in college and it just seems as if they play so much larger than they actually are. Henderson is one of those players, because if you didn’t look at his height and weight before watching his tape, you would’ve assumed he was at least 6’1” and 210 pounds with the way he wins contested catches and runs over defenders.
Henderson is a very good route runner who played a majority of his snaps on the perimeter for Louisiana Tech, despite being sub-six-foot. He looked to run a majority of the routes that NFL teams would want, excelling over the middle of the field. His breaks in-route don’t seem to take much off his speed, which is something that will translate at any level. Given his small size, the ability to run routes and create something after the catch is paramount. Henderson does not disappoint after the catch, shoving off defenders, as well as juking to get around them. He is a natural playmaker with the ball in his hands.
The way he catches the ball is eerily similar to the way Alshon Jeffery and Mike Wallace do, almost catching it not with their hands, but also not with their body. The best way to describe it is like catching with his forearms. What I’m saying is that he’s not a natural hands catcher and doesn’t have the fluidity that you’d expect from a small wide receiver. It’s one of my lone knocks on Henderson, as almost everything else looks solid on tape.
Another thing I noticed while watching his game film was that his competition was not very good, precisely his game against Texas Tech, where their defenders looked clueless defending him. You can’t hold that against him, but it’s definitely not the type of coverage he’ll see at the pro level.
Whoever drafts Henderson will likely use him on kickoff returns as well, as it’s something he did at Louisiana Tech, and well I might add. It’s an added dimension to his game where if he can’t get on the field right away, at least he’ll be contributing on special teams.
Potential landing spot
Once you get outside the top few wide receviers, the ability to project their landing spot gets tougher and tougher, because most teams will add a talented player if he falls far enough. With that being said, the ideal landing spot for a player like Henderson is the Panthers, where he can come in to help fill the void left by Ted Ginn and Corey Brown, who both left via free agency. Henderson has the speed and ability to go deep and with some help, I believe he could transition to the slot extremely well. Other teams that should be interested: Bills, Ravens, and Titans.
NFL comparison
This one was difficult because I see shades of multiple players in Henderson’s game, but narrowing it down, I landed on Golden Tate. He’s one of the best in the NFL at creating yards after the catch and can play anywhere on the field. While going deep hasn’t been his forte, he’s shown that he is able at times. Henderson doesn’t have as good of hands, but he offers a bit more presence near the goal line than Tate does. It’ll take some time in order for Henderson to learn everything needed in the NFL, as it did for Tate.
To read up on some of the other high-profile NFL Draft prospects, check out the links below:
Corey Davis – (WR, Western Michigan)
Mike Williams – (WR, Clemson)
John Ross – (WR, Washington)
Taywan Taylor – (WR, Western Kentucky)
JuJu Smith-Schuster – (WR, USC)
Chris Godwin – (WR, Penn State)
ArDarius Stewart – (WR, Alabama)
Ep. 71: Early Mock Draft & March Madness
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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
