I've been watching a lot of Maryland football, and I gotta say Erin Henderson looks like a fantastic LB. I think he's only a junior so I wanted some info on him from anyone that knows anything. Is he going to come out this year? Does he project well to the NFL level/to our 3-4? Any idea where he would get picked? From watching him, he looks like a first round talent to me.
i just looked up his stats, he?s about the same size as vilma. as a jets fan, that scares me, cuz seeing such a great talent vasted is just sad. and he only has 1 sack, so that are two things, that don?t let me get too excited bout him. but i never saw him play, so tell me some, are the stats lieing? can he shed blocks, can he rush the passer?
I can't find any site that gives his stats. From what I've seen of him is that he's very much like Vilma as a player (so I guess that would make him a bad pick after all). He's not really a pass rusher, but he's all over the field making tackle after tackle so he definitely sheds blocks very well. He seems to close on players very well and plays with a ton of aggressiveness. If I'm not mistaken, I think he was an All-ACC player last year (I think it was 2nd team D though). Regardless, he was a sophomore then and in his first year as a full-time starter. I understand your concern of him though and he probably wouldn't be a good fit in our D now that you mention it. I think he's a better player than his brother (EJ from the Vikings) who went in the 2nd round a few years ago. But you're right, if we're not playing the 4-3, he'd probably be a waste of a pick.
GP-GS Solo Ast Total TFL/Yds No-Yds Int-Yds BrUp QBH Rcv-Yds FF Kick Saf ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Erin Henderson 9-9 51 61 112 9.5-22 1.0-7 1-8 2 . 3-39 1 . . http://umterps.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2007-2008/teamcume.html#TEAM.IND
Would this be E.J. Henderson's brother? In which case, that makes me kind of wary of taking his brother. Not that E.J. is a bad player, he's just not an impact player.
Yes, Erin is E.J.'s brother who was drafted by the Vikings in the 2nd rd about 3 years ago. Erin is a couple of inches taller than E.J. and has a leaner frame. EJ can make some plays, but IMO, isn't a dominate player. BTW, Erin is only a Junior and would be crazy for him to declare, especially after blowing out his knee the year before.
I saw Erin play live when Maryland played Rutgers, and I came away really impressed. He seems like a sleeker, faster version of what his brother was while at Maryland, maybe just due to the fact that he's playing weakside while EJ played in the middle. He's a playmaker though, always around the ball, great closing speed especially when he gets in the backfield. EJ got a lot better once he dropped some weight and moved outside for Minnesota, so Erin's already ahead of the game in that regard. He's not going to declare early, but he's got a chance at being one of the better OLBs in the class. Considering he's probably well on his way to ffirst team all acc honors this year, he'll be getting plenty of notice.
Thanks for the insight. That was my feeling on the kid when I watched him too. Do you think he's going to be a player we would even consider or would he not fit at all in our scheme? Could he be an OLB on our team?
Henderson plays middle linebacker for the Vikings and was my choice for midseason All-Pro at that position.
He moved to the weakside for the 05 and 06 seasons, when he started really playing lights out for Minnesota. He just went back inside now that Greenway's been healthy this year. And Mike, he's really more of a 43 type of guy. He needs the bodies in front of him so he can pursue and make plays.
