Sounds like the kid made a name for himself at the Senior Bowl. Happy for him he’s probably gonna be an early day two guy. Im not a big Seahawks or NFL guy but would be stoked to root for him on the Seahawks.
Daiyan Henley
- Thread starter chugspig
- Start date
They sure could use a lineback or three. Love Henley at the college level, but not sure if he's an NFL starter. If the Hawks get him, I'd love to be proven wrong.
Tankathon has recently put Henley in their rankings, #6 out of 6 LB's in their rankings. They show him going at #84, just a couple picks after the Seahawks 3rd round pick (Tennessee QB). They have the Hawks taking a linebacker at #38 in second round, Drew Sanders from Arkansas, 6'5", 233#. For quite a while they had Noah Sewell going in that #38 slot.
FWIW......
I'm in the same boat. I loved his energy and character but question that he's actually an early round guy...but hey, I hope he goes high and has a great career. He's a great representative for WSU and I hope he tears it up.
The knock on him that I’ve read is that he’s a beat slow in play recognition. He’s athletic enough that it hasn’t been a hindrance in college, but there’s question whether he’ll be effective at the next level. Enough question that teams aren’t likely to gamble on him until the 3rd round.
If I’m a GM, my question with him is durability. I don’t look at him and think he’s a guy who’s going to take the beating for more than a few years. The fact that he’s always around the ball makes that fuse run even faster. If I only get 3 years out of a 3rd/4th round pick, I’m OK with that. If I’m going to spend a 1st rounder, I’m hoping for at least 5.
I think he’s seen as a bit of a tweener. An outside backer body who’s been playing in the middle. I see a damn good football player. Linebackers who can cover are valuable in todays NFL. Should be a 2nd rounder I’d think. Hopefully the week he’s had propelled him up some draft boards.
Henley is a beast and if he goes in the 3rd, I think he will make a lot of teams regret they didn't pick him well before then.
At the very least, he looks to be a solid special teamer, backup LB, or practice squad guy. There's a lot of money to be made in those roles. Good for him.
Why should he be a first round pick? Third to fourth seems about right to me.
I'll link his senior bowl measurements below. I think the height measurement means 6 feet, 7/8 inches. He played most if his career at Nevada, and was 2nd team MWC in 2021, followed by first team Pac-12 in 2022.
2023 Senior Bowl weigh-in & measurement results | NFL Draft | PFF
All of the updated heights, weights and measurements for the 2023 NFL Draft prospects in attendance for the Reese's Senior Bowl.
www.pff.com
2023 NFL Draft: Ranking the top 10 linebacker prospects | NFL Draft | PFF
PFF's Mike Renner reveals his top 10 linebacker prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft.
www.pff.com
Has him ranked the #4 2023 LB draft prospect.
2023 NFL Draft: Ranking the top 10 linebacker prospects | NFL Draft | PFF
PFF's Mike Renner reveals his top 10 linebacker prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Has him ranked the #4 2023 LB draft prospect.
Interesting to see that Henley was guilty of "enhancing" his height. The PFF ranking says that he is 6'2" but he measured more than an inch less than that at the Senior Bowl. Not that unusual of course.
FWIW, I just don't get the comments about his ability to cover receivers in space. Below is a 5 1/2 minute long highlight film and there is only one "highlight" where he actually ran along with a receiver and while it was a nice interception, the Idaho QB threw into triple coverage and Henley was the underneath guy in the position to make the pick (0:55 mark). Out of the dozens of other highlight plays, there was only one other one (at 3:08) where he sort of ran along but he was beaten by the receiver and had his back to the QB trying to catch up. He did a good job of putting his hands up and disrupting the pass though. The other times in coverage, he basically squatted in a zone and reacted as the pass was being thrown.
Now, the video is full of plays where he shows excellent tackling skills, great recovery and closure rates and a lot of really great plays, but I'm not buying that he is all that good in coverage. I'd love to have someone post some videos where he is running with receivers and really showing off great coverage skills. I know that can be tough because the camera tends to focus on the pocket until the throw is released though.
FWIW, these guys agree with me:
Again, even though I'm not sold on the notion that he's great in coverage, he is the very definition of a "ball player" and any team would be lucky to have him on their squad for his energy and competitive nature alone.
In looking at other linebackers in the draft, not many have good coverage skills. Henley is among the better ones. His stock has definitely risen because of his Senior Bowl week performance.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
A lot will depend on How Henly does at the NFL draft combine, despite how well he did at the Senior Bowl.
To be drafted 1st, 2nd round, you have to have the DNA + A AWESOME SEASON ON AT LEAST A DECENT TEAM, ETC + A GOOD SENIOR BOWL, ETC + A AWESOME NFL DRAFT COMBINE + AWESOME INTERVIEWS WITH NFL SCOUTS, ETC.
In that process, Henly has gotten thru the Senior bowl step, and is currently rated the 4th best LB in draft at best. 1st round usually takes 2 LB's, 3 at most, 1 at minimum. 2nd round takes 2nd ranked LB at minimum, if LB slides, 3rd, 4th, 5th LB, if 1st round takes LB's. 3rd round takes 3rd, 4th ranked LB's if they slide, 5,6,7th LB's.
So currently Henly is about a 2nd, 3rd round draft pick if he doesn't slide to 4th round.
If Henly NAILS the NFL Draft combine, His stock would probably go up to 3rd best LB in draft, and would go bottom of first round, to top of 2nd round to bottom of 2nd round, top of 3rd round at worst.
If Henly then NAILS the interviews, after NAILING draft combine, Henly would probably move up to 2nd best LB in draft, and would be a first round draft pick, unless slide to 2nd round.
So a lot depends on how Henly does in the NFL draft combine and the interviews after that.
Depending on how Henly does in that, I think Henly gets drafted bottom first round at best, and 1st pick of 4th round at worst.
To be drafted 1st, 2nd round, you have to have the DNA + A AWESOME SEASON ON AT LEAST A DECENT TEAM, ETC + A GOOD SENIOR BOWL, ETC + A AWESOME NFL DRAFT COMBINE + AWESOME INTERVIEWS WITH NFL SCOUTS, ETC.
In that process, Henly has gotten thru the Senior bowl step, and is currently rated the 4th best LB in draft at best. 1st round usually takes 2 LB's, 3 at most, 1 at minimum. 2nd round takes 2nd ranked LB at minimum, if LB slides, 3rd, 4th, 5th LB, if 1st round takes LB's. 3rd round takes 3rd, 4th ranked LB's if they slide, 5,6,7th LB's.
So currently Henly is about a 2nd, 3rd round draft pick if he doesn't slide to 4th round.
If Henly NAILS the NFL Draft combine, His stock would probably go up to 3rd best LB in draft, and would go bottom of first round, to top of 2nd round to bottom of 2nd round, top of 3rd round at worst.
If Henly then NAILS the interviews, after NAILING draft combine, Henly would probably move up to 2nd best LB in draft, and would be a first round draft pick, unless slide to 2nd round.
So a lot depends on how Henly does in the NFL draft combine and the interviews after that.
Depending on how Henly does in that, I think Henly gets drafted bottom first round at best, and 1st pick of 4th round at worst.
FWIW, I just don't get the comments about his ability to cover receivers in space. Below is a 5 1/2 minute long highlight film and there is only one "highlight" where he actually ran along with a receiver and while it was a nice interception, the Idaho QB threw into triple coverage and Henley was the underneath guy in the position to make the pick (0:55 mark). Out of the dozens of other highlight plays, there was only one other one (at 3:08) where he sort of ran along but he was beaten by the receiver and had his back to the QB trying to catch up. He did a good job of putting his hands up and disrupting the pass though. The other times in coverage, he basically squatted in a zone and reacted as the pass was being thrown.
My comment on this was based more on what we were seeing from him during Sr bowl week and his range in general. He’s athletic enough to cover wide receivers in space. That’s not common at that position.
If he does well at the combine it could get interesting. He checks all the boxes on the field IMO.
Didn’t really man up with anyone outside of RBs out of the backfield. Normally as a middle backer you wouldn’t be, especially in the Pac-12.
My comment on this was based more on what we were seeing from him during Sr bowl week and his range in general. He’s athletic enough to cover wide receivers in space. That’s not common at that position.
If he does well at the combine it could get interesting. He checks all the boxes on the field IMO.
As much as anything, he is a ball player with a great build. He definitely deserves a decent draft position. I don't see him going before the third or fourth, but someone is going to be glad to get him whenever they do pull the trigger.
I'm going to attribute much of this to coaching. If someone is athletic/quick/fast "enough" they can be coached up to be better in coverage. Outside of our corners last year (and not consistently) nobody back there last year was very good in coverage.
It's mostly about technique, and THAT can be taught. If a player has good instincts and a nose for the ball you're halfway there. He'd probs mainly be asked to cover RBs anyway, and at the next level slot receivers are tough for anyone. That's all I have to say about that.
Yup. I’d say the chiefs did alright snagging Watson where they did last year too. If you did a redraft he’d be a 2nd probably.
Here's an interesting twist - one of the knocks on Henley used to be his coverage skills. This article says "it seemed pretty clear that Henley was the best linebacker in coverage at this year’s Senior Bowl" "it was Henley’s abilities in pass coverage that stood out more than his run-stopping capacity" and "Daiyan Henley has real potential to be a three-down contributor at the position with his skills in coverage on passing downs as well as the explosiveness and physicality he brings on every play."
https://thedraftnetwork.com/daiyan-henley-senior-bowl-2023-nfl-draft/
There's a brief mention on ESPN from Kiper, suggesting that Henley may now be a 2nd rounder.
He's got good ball instincts and he comes to play on every down. On effort alone, I'd take him in the 2nd. But between his size and his style of play, I still question how long he'll last in the league...so I guess it would depend on what other needs my team had - and how many picks - whether I'd take him that high.
Seattle picks 6th & 21st in the 2nd round (38 & 53 overall), and then not again until 20th in the 3rd (84th overall). Considering what else they need, taking Henley at 53 is probably a stretch. But if he's still on the board at 84 they'd be nuts not to give him serious consideration.
https://thedraftnetwork.com/daiyan-henley-senior-bowl-2023-nfl-draft/
There's a brief mention on ESPN from Kiper, suggesting that Henley may now be a 2nd rounder.
He's got good ball instincts and he comes to play on every down. On effort alone, I'd take him in the 2nd. But between his size and his style of play, I still question how long he'll last in the league...so I guess it would depend on what other needs my team had - and how many picks - whether I'd take him that high.
Seattle picks 6th & 21st in the 2nd round (38 & 53 overall), and then not again until 20th in the 3rd (84th overall). Considering what else they need, taking Henley at 53 is probably a stretch. But if he's still on the board at 84 they'd be nuts not to give him serious consideration.
He has a nose for the ball for sure, but as someone else mentioned, his instincts seem to be lagging.
