2016 NFL Draft: Is Derrick Henry a first round pick?

Some feel Derrick Henry is overrated, but a former director of college scouting for the Chicago Bears believes a team will trade up for him in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

The 2016 NFL Draft is getting closer, it is just 18 days away, so mock drafts are becoming part of many peoples daily routine.

Well, if you happened to check out the former director of college scouting for the Chicago Bears, and current National Football Post analyst, Greg Gabriel‘s mock draft, he had an interesting one.

The mock had the normal picks, Laremy Tunsil going first overall to the Tennessee Titans, Carson Wentz going number two overall to the Cleveland Browns, but his mock draft got interesting when the Arizona Cardinals pick came up.

With the 29th pick in his mock draft, Gabriel makes the following selection with this explanation,

"Derrick Henry – RB – Alabama – Do I feel that the Cards will select Henry? No, but I do believe someone will trade up and grab him in this area of the first round."

Now, we can debate who the Cardinals will take in the first round, but what is more interesting was the last sentence of his reasoning.

Gabriel, who is well-respected in the scouting world, believes that a team will trade up for the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner and former Alabama running back, Derrick Henry.

Henry, who ran 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns in his Heisman winning season, was obviously arguably the best player in college football. He is a massive man, standing at 6’3″ and weighing in at 247lbs, but his size does not hurt his athleticism.

Henry ran a 4.54 40-yard dash at the 2016 NFL Combine and also had a 37.0″ vertical leap followed by a 130.0″ broad jump.

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He is a running back that can use his size dominantly while running, which is bad news for opposing defenses, especially defensive backs, but while he has the ability to run you over, he also has the ability to break the long run. It is rare to see a player of his size have the ability to hit the home run, but Henry is not your normal player.

One of the biggest knocks on Henry is that he is a former Alabama running back, which is almost like a storm cloud over his head. The reason, former great Alabama running backs have never panned out to be great NFL running backs.

Henry will need to be the player to break through and show his dominance in college at Alabama can translate directly to dominance in the NFL.

Along with the Alabama running back cloud, Henry won’t add much value in the passing game, which is big in todays NFL. However, if you need a guy to pick up a 3rd and 1, Henry will be someone you can count on.

Many believe he will be selected in the second round because the running back position becomes devalued more and more each season, but with a former NFL scout saying he will go in the first, it is certainly worth watching for on draft day.

More nfl spin zone: 2016 NFL Draft Positional Rankings: Top 5 Running Backs

Will Henry be selected in the first round? We will find out on April 28, 2016 at the 2016 NFL Draft.

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