Former Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson saved perhaps his best performance in the scarlet and gray for last in the College Football Playoff, rushing fora combined 264 yards and four touchdowns along with another eight catches for 149 yards and a score in the Buckeyes’ four postseason games to help serve as one of the main catalysts behind Ohio State’s historic national championship run.
Henderson’s production outburst — which included a long 66-yard rushing touchdown in the Rose Bowl win trouncing of Oregon and a 75-yard receiving touchdown off an end-of-first-half screen pass during Ohio State’s thrilling victory over Texas at the Cotton Bowl — may have come at the perfect time for the do-it-all tailback.
According to longtime NFL draft expert Todd McShay, the former Buckeyes’ runner has been touted as a potential draft riser by talent evaluators within NFL organizations, with some saying he could be picked as early as in the first round because teams have fallen in love with his every-down ability as well as his physicality in pass blocking.
“TreVeyon Henderson, man, he’s going early. Like he might go first-round early,” McShay said on his podcast “The Todd McShay Show.” “(He has) speed, explosiveness and you want to know what scouts freaking love about this guy? The blocking.
“I was talking to a director of personnel today, and he was like, ‘the Blocking.’ And I was like, ‘Just like (Former Ohio State running back and fellow national champion Ezekiel Elliott)?’ And he’s like, ‘Exactly. You know what you’re getting. You keep him on the field every single play. He doesn’t have to come off the field.’ ”
As McShay alluded to, Henderson has made a name for himself not just out of the backfield but also in pass protection, where he has delivered multiple booming blocks on blitzing defenders to buy Ohio State’s quarterbacks more time to throw. That blocking ability was put on display on the biggest stage during the national championship game, when he delivered a huge hit on Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser to set up Jeremiah Smith’s game-sealing 56-yard catch late in the fourth quarter.
“Blocking as a running back, it is not easy,” Henderson said in November. “There is a lot of work that has to go into that. So I’m just thankful that I can go out on Saturdays to protect my QB.”
While Henderson’s blocking has intrigued those in NFL circles, it is also his ability as a runner that has brought him into first-round draft conversations. McShay pointed to Henderson’s shiftiness and explosiveness out of the backfield — which allowed him to rush for 1,016 yards and 10 scores this season and 3,761 yards and 42 touchdowns on the year — that has piqued the interest of those within the NFL, and said that many think his best days are still well in front of him.
“You see that speed, and the way he cuts, and everyone I talk to, it’s the same thing: ‘He’s going to be a better NFL player than a college player in terms of production and consistency,’ ” McShay said. “His best football — he’s kind of getting ready to peak. And teams recognize it. Henderson could be “RB2” and there is some buzz, like, ‘I don’t know if he’s getting out of round one.’ ”
Although Henderson has just a 3.4 percent chance to be selected in the first round according to nflmockdraftdatabase.com, multiple outlets have him being drafted with one of the first 32 picks, including Sports Illustrated (24th, Minnesota Vikings), Fox Sports (30th, Philadelphia Eagles) and Pro Football Network (25th, Houston Texans).
