Ohio State star and potential 2024 NFL Draft RB1 candidate TreVeyon Henderson has missed two games in 2023 with an injury. Is he on track to return against the Wisconsin Badgers in Week 9? Here’s the latest on his status.
Will TreVeyon Henderson Play in Week 9?
Henderson was healthy up until the Maryland game in Week 6, which he missed due to an undisclosed injury. He then missed the Purdue game and was a game-time decision leading up to Ohio State’s Week 8 clash with Penn State.
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Ultimately, Henderson missed that game, too. And now, he’s coming off three missed contests, a year after his availability was consistently impacted by a foot injury.
Nevertheless, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day appears more optimistic that Henderson will return to the field in Week 9. During his Tuesday press conference, he said the following about Henderson and other injured players:
“We’re expecting great weeks of practice out of those guys. Expecting to have them ready on Saturday.”
Before missing three games, Henderson had amassed 44 carries for 295 yards and five touchdowns in four games. It appears as though he’ll be expected to add to those numbers this week now that he’s had time to recover.
Henderson’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Has a compact, squatty, well-leveraged frame with excellent relative mass and density.
- When healthy, has elite one-step explosiveness, generating instant momentum on cuts.
- Has the long speed to create chunk plays with narrow creases and house short passes.
- Urgent, fleet-footed dynamo who can rapidly realign his base and surge through lanes.
- Has the hyperactive twitch to work defenders off balance in space, then punish.
- Can use base flexibility to manipulate vertical angles in space while keeping speed.
- Has good initial baseline vision and has superb peripheral vision at the second level.
- Can identify suboptimal odds early in reps and make decisions quickly off those IDs.
- Pierces second-level seams with burst, combative style, balance, and tempo freedom.
- Has the high-level balance to suddenly recoil and recalibrate his base out of contact.
- Able to fight through contact with stubborn, grating leg churn and physicality.
- Maximizes effusive physicality with lower body activation, pad level, and forward-pressing energy.
- Stellar hands-catcher with legitimate coordination and receiving instincts.
- Preemptively resets his feet for RAC and translates well with twitch and balance.
- Competent pass blocker who stays square, shoots his hands, and has great vision.
Weaknesses
- Foot injury in 2022 detracted from his explosiveness at times.
- At times, shows slight hip tightness, needing to supplement transitions with stutters.
- Vision and creative instincts, while solid, collectively fall short of the elite mark.
- Unblocked defenders too often invite hesitation and tempo reductions.
- Isn’t always comfortable testing tight lanes and navigating through congestion.
- Will sometimes defer to direct contact if there isn’t an excess of space at his disposal.
- Sometimes overlooks lateral creases and is most comfortable working vertically.
- Extraneous use of space can snag runs and give defenders more chances to impede.
- Even with high-level force output at contact, doesn’t have elite bowling mass.
- Does have room to expand his route tree beyond screens and swing routes.
- At times, can be more consistent in sustaining blocks past first contact.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
His blend of momentum and physicality made him a force to deal with downhill. But beyond that, he displayed the necessary twitch, vision, and instincts to adapt, and he boasted an extra dimension as an electric RAC threat in the passing game.
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In the modern NFL, versatility and three-down utility are two qualities that almost qualify as necessities for early-round backs, and Henderson has those traits in his arsenal.
He does have room to be a bit more consistent with his initial vision and his creative instincts. But overall, he’s a well-rounded back with an enticing physical profile who provides passing value and additional security as a pass blocker.