Surprised he is down on Cooper Kupp. I don't doubt he has an unbiased grading metric but metrics are not everything. When you look at the kid he just appears to have it. I agree Zay Jones isn't all that.
I just watched 2 highlight reels of Carlos Henderson. He is tricky to evaluate. Elite quickness? No. Elite top Speed? No. Those are the tolls that usually make WRs good but clearly he has something going on and I saw a few that really caught my eye which are unusual.
Here is one
#1 Stutter step. Every WR uses this tool but his is elite. He really is able to put his whole body into it and quickly sell the the fake and then go the other way. This is his signature physical ability imo.
#2 Elite straight line acceleration. He is not quick side to side but once he goes up field he gets up to top speed very quickly. It was only really shown on a few plays but that was clearly there and could be used more on short passes.
#3 Balance. A lot of bad tackling and missed tackles seem to happen with him and that is true. However he gets hit and absorbs it and is able to continue his momentum forward and quickly regain control of himself. Arm tackles also he just seems to have a ability to slip. Something to do with sliding it off than powering through. That little bend than snap forward on one side thing. I saw that a lot. Look at the highlight and at 2:05 you will see what I mean.
#4 Great football sense as far as spacial dimensions, vision and rule bending. This is something very hard to measure and rarely is it something I bring up but it really pops here for me. He has a great feel for the game. When running in open space he is able to quickly diagnosis where everyone is moving and pick his spot very well. He has great anticipation imo of objects in space and almost seems to let the other players move around him to create openings. What it really is though is a great ability for picking an angle that makes the angle the defender is coming at him just miss and finding the gap in space left by him. Usually his uses his stutter step or ability to bend and quickly accelerate to do this. Usually this sense by itself isn't useful unless you have great vision. I think he does. Again I will bring up 2:05. He looks up field and accelerates to escape the guys directly to his sides. Employs his stutter step to try to create an angle down the field (10+ yards down the field). Cut on it then Bends and then with his vision after beating the guy ahead he turns and notices the guy behind him and breaks more to the right than he would have if he didn't notice him. Again he just feels the angle and uses it to get separation.
Another example is he knows how to get open and use his body to block defenders out and bends rules. 28 seconds is a great example. Gets positioning before it is thrown then a subtle push off and and catches it away from him self. He gave the defender no chance to make a play. Another is at 32 seconds. This could have easily been OPI but it is a very quick thing while both jump. The defender has the inside on a jump ball and he decides to jump and give him a very very quick push down then makes the catch and goes for a TD. Maybe it is called but it was very quick. Better to give OPI here anyway than an Int. That is a penalty you make them call but he was sly about it and did it so fast it makes it hard to.
Another good example is here.
Like the field they are on?
So at 28. He fully sells his route and gives a slight push off and comes back for the easy TD. again it gives the defender no chance and is rarely ever called. 3:15 is another good example. I think it was suppose to go more on the outside shoulder but he does well using his body to sheild the defender.
Does anyone else find it odd some of his best highlights happen at Gillette? Just saying.
