The 2024 NFL Draft is here, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on LaDarius Henderson.
LaDarius Henderson's 2024 NFL Combine Results
- Height: 6'4 ¼"
- Weight: 309 pounds
- 40-yard dash: Did Not Participate (DNP)
- 10-yard split: DNP
- Vertical jump: DNP
- Broad jump: DNP
LaDarius Henderson 2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Strengths
- Long-armed, long-levered OL with extensive experience at both offensive tackle and offensive guard. At times, shows light, quick feet.
- Has pass-protection reps where he strikes with hands effectively. Has excellent timing and proper placement inside.
- Has pass protection reps with efficient kick slide, knee bend and balance, using arm length effectively.
- Flashes the technical and fundamental ability to reset his hands in pass protection to maintain control of rep.
- Shows plus mobility as an outside puller in the run game, moving with balance and body control to strike.
- Plays with excellent awareness and accelerated vision, recognizing and reacting to stunts and pressures.
- Effective as a down blocker in the run game. Has reps where he generates some core power to move defensive linemen.
- Flashes some strength and power generation as run blocker. Effective as base blocker with good leverage.
- Shows excellent timing on combo blocks coming off initial double team working to second level defenders.
- Used, at times, as puller across the formation in gap-scheme run game. Showed some power on the move.
Weaknesses
- In some pass protection reps, got stuck with his feet unable to change direction and redirect vs. inside counters.
- Stiff in his core, which results, at times, in an inability to move laterally with needed quickness and balance.
- Too many pass protection snaps where his feet looked slow and sluggish, lacking needed fluidity of movement.
- Struggles at times to anchor in pass protection — even when in phase with good balance stature and hand usage.
- At times, has balance and body control issues as run blocker struggling to redirect and change direction. Stiff.
NFL Transition
Henderson will make the transition to the NFL with 20 starts at left tackle and 19 starts at left guard in his five-year college career — including 10 starts at left tackle at Michigan in 2023.
The more I watched Henderson, the more I liked his tape from a consistency of execution standpoint in an offense that featured multiple NFL concepts in both the run game and pass game. But my sense is that, despite desirable arm length and wingspan, he will be projected to the next level as an offensive guard who can play offensive tackle if need be.
One area where Henderson excelled in the run game was as a down blocker generating some strength and force to drive out defensive tackles from the point of attack. There were gap scheme snaps in which he effectively climbed to the second level to block linebackers. The other trait Henderson consistently shwed on tape in the run game was plus athleticism and mobility to pull both across the formation in the gap scheme run game and outside in the pin-pull run game, with the balance and body control to strike on the move.
The key trait for an offensive tackle to make the transition as a starter at the next level is the ability to pass protect 1-on-1, especially on third downs when offensive coaches want to send all five eligible receivers into routes — without needing to help their offensive tackles with the quality edge rushers the NFL presents.
Henderson showed he could pass protect 1-on-1 in 45-degree and vertical pass sets with an efficient kick slide and more than functional lateral movement and range. He used his arm length effectively with both good timing and hand placement with his strikes.
It would not surprise me if Henderson develops at the next level with coaching and NFL experience and becomes a quality starter at either offensive tackle or offensive guard.
Other Notes
Henderson played one year at Michigan after transferring from Arizona State, where he started 29 games in four seasons (19 starts at left guard and 10 starts at left tackle). In 2023 at Michigan, he started 10 games at left tackle and was voted first-team All-Big 10 by the league’s coaches.
He did an outstanding job in 1-on-1 pass protection vs. Ohio State edge rusher J.T. Tuimoloau, but Henderson had a tough time with both the lateral quickness and speed-to-power of Washington’s Braelon Trice.
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