Henry was a seldom used reserve his first two seasons, backing up Mike Bell. He ran for 278 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman and sophomore. As a junior, he shared backfield duties, but ran for 581 yards and seven touchdowns, and also added 197 yards and a touchdown on 21 catches as a receiver.
Chris Henry has all the physical tools you could want in a running back. He has excellent size, is strong, athletic, and fast. He runs well between the tackles, and can be a workhorse. He also shows the ability to make the first defender miss, and the speed to turn the corner and break off big runs. Henry also developed into a legitimate receiving option out of the backfield this year, and showed very good hands as a receiver.
For a player with his talent level, he has never put up the numbers to back it up. Backing up Mike Bell obviously limited what he could do early in his career, but he didn’t seize the prime opportunity laid out in front of him this year to be the feature back.
Chris Henry will pop up on a lot of people’s sleeper lists. He definitely has the talent, but is somewhat of an unknown on the field because of his limited success. Henry put on a show in the post season, showcasing the size, speed, and athleticism to cut it in the NFL. The only question now is if he can put it together on the field and that will not be proven until the season starts. His lack of production is a big question mark, but someone in the fourth round may take the gamble on his potential.