Hunter Henry
 Henry in 2016 | |||||||||
| No. 86 – Los Angeles Chargers | |||||||||
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| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | December 7, 1994 Atlanta, Georgia | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Little Rock (AR) Pulaski | ||||||||
| College: | Arkansas | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2016 / round: 2 / pick: 35 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2016 | |||||||||
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Hunter Henry (born December 7, 1994) is an American football tight end for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arkansas, where he was a consensus All-American and won the John Mackey Award as the top tight end in the nation. He was selected by San Diego in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft with the 35th overall pick.
Early years
Hunter Henry was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on December 7, 1994. In the summer of 2000, his family moved to the Atlanta area for his father's job. Henry would move back to Little Rock, Arkansas his Freshman Year of High School where he attended Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas for four years. As a freshman Henry spent time playing Offensive Tackle, Wide Receiver, and Defensive End . He would not play Tight End during his High School campaign, due to the fact that Pulaski Academy's Spread Offense scheme did not feature the TE position. Henry started his sophomore, junior, and senior year, winning a state championship with the Bruins in 2011.
Henry was named to the Parade All-American team in the football year of 2012–2013 and was one of the top recruits in the nation.[2]
His parents are Mark Henry and Jenny Henry, and they live in Little Rock. His father was an offensive lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks from 1987–1991. He lettered four years for the Razorbacks.
College career
In 2015, Henry was involved in one of the most memorable plays in Arkansas football history. During a fourth-and-25 play in overtime against Ole Miss in the Arkansas–Ole Miss football rivalry, Henry caught a pass from quarterback Brandon Allen and upon seeing that he was going to be tackled Henry blindly flung the ball backwards as a lateral to running back Alex Collins. Collins picked it up on the bounce and ran it for a 31-yard gain to gain a first down. This set up an eventual touchdown and successful two-point conversion to win the game. The uniqueness of the play led to widespread media coverage and replays. He was also the John Mackey Award winner for best tight end in the nation and also was a Consensus All-American in the 2015–2016 season.[3] Henry helped Arkansas win back-to-back bowl games in consecutive years for the first time in program history, beating former Southwest Conference rival the Texas Longhorns in the 2014 Texas Bowl, and winning the 2016 Liberty Bowl over the Kansas State Wildcats.
On January 4, 2016, Henry declared he would be entering the 2016 NFL Draft.[4]
College career statistics
| Teams | Receiving | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | G | Rec | Yds | Lng | Avg | TD | |||||||||||
| 2013 | Arkansas | SEC | 10 | 28 | 409 | 66 | 14.6 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2014 | Arkansas | SEC | 12 | 37 | 513 | 54 | 13.9 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2015 | Arkansas | SEC | 13 | 51 | 739 | 79 | 14.5 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Career | 35 | 116 | 1,661 | 79 | 14.3 | 9 | |||||||||||||
Source[5]
Professional career
Pre-draft
In early 2016, Henry was predicted to be a late first to second round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.[6][7] Henry skipped most physical drills at the NFL Combine but did compete in bench press with a position worst of 13 reps.[8] Henry managed to improve on his pro day by posting a 4.67 40 yard dash and completing 21 reps in the bench press establishing himself as one of the top tight ends in the 2016 NFL draft.[9]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
250 lb (113 kg) |
32+3⁄4 in (0.83 m) |
9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) |
4.67 s | 1.60 s | 2.74 s | 4.41 s | 7.16 s | 31.5 in (0.80 m) |
9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) |
21 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine and Pro Day[10] | ||||||||||||
2016 NFL Draft
Henry was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round (35th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft.[11]
San Diego Chargers
On June 2, 2016, Henry and the Chargers agreed to a four-year, $6.38 million contract with $3.98 million guaranteed and a $2.84 million signing bonus.[12]
He entered training camp competing to be the backup tight end, against veterans Sean McGrath and Asante Cleveland. Henry was named the San Diego Charger's third tight end on their depth chart to begin the regular season, behind longtime Pro-bowl veteran Antonio Gates and Sean McGrath.[13]
In his regular season debut against the Kansas City Chiefs, Henry made only one reception for 20 yards in the Chargers' season opening loss. The following week, he earned his first career start during a victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. During a Week 4 loss to the Saints, he caught four passes for 61 yards and scored his first touchdown on a 20-yard pass from Phillip Rivers. On October 13, 2016, Henry led all Chargers in receptions, making six catches for 83 receiving yards and a touchdown in a 21–13 victory over the Denver Broncos.[14] On December 18, he caught three passes for 37 receiving yards and a touchdown during a 19–16 loss to the Oakland Raiders.
In his rookie season, Henry scored the 2nd most touchdowns by a rookie tight end in the last decade (2007-2017) (Only behind Rob Gronkowski), and scored the 5th most touchdowns by a rookie TE of all time [15]
NFL career statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | GS | Rec | Yards | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | ||
| 2016 | SD | 15 | 10 | 36 | 478 | 13.3 | 59 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| Career | 15 | 10 | 36 | 478 | 13.3 | 59 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
Sources[16]
References
- ^ http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/news/2013/allamerica140106.html
- ^ Meyers, Kate (February 3, 2013). "Meet The 2013 All-America High School Football Lineup". Parade. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ^ http://espn.go.com/college-football/recap?gameId=400603908
- ^ Taylor, McGillis,. "A Letter From Hunter Henry". Arkansas Razorbacks. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Hunter Henry college stats". sports-reference. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- ^ Zierlein, Lance (Mar 4, 2016). "Mock draft 3.0: Bosa falls to Bucs". NFL.com. Retrieved Mar 9, 2016.
- ^ Reuter, Chad (Mar 7, 2016). "Mock draft 3.0: Texans take Hackenberg". NFL.com. Retrieved Mar 9, 2016.
- ^ "National Football League website".
- ^ "University Of Arkansas".
- ^ "Hunter Henry Draft Profile". National Football League. Retrieved Mar 9, 2016.
- ^ Henne, Ricky (April 29, 2016). "Chargers Draft Dynamic Arkansas Tight End Hunter Henry". Chargers.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
- ^ Soortrac.com. "Sportrac.com:Hunter Henry contract". Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ "Ourlads.com: San Diego Charger's Depth Chart". ourlads.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
- ^ NFL.com. "NFL Player Profile:Hunter Henry". Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&year_min=1920&year_max=2016&season_start=1&season_end=1&age_min=0&age_max=0&pos=te&c1stat=choose&c1comp=gt&c2stat=choose&c2comp=gt&c3stat=choose&c3comp=gt&c4stat=choose&c4comp=gt&c5comp=choose&c5gtlt=lt&c6mult=1.0&c6comp=choose&order_by=all_td&draft=0&draft_year_min=1936&draft_year_max=2016&draft_slot_min=1&draft_slot_max=500&draft_pick_in_round=pick_overall&conference=any&draft_pos=qb&draft_pos=rb&draft_pos=wr&draft_pos=te&draft_pos=e&draft_pos=t&draft_pos=g&draft_pos=c&draft_pos=ol&draft_pos=dt&draft_pos=de&draft_pos=dl&draft_pos=ilb&draft_pos=olb&draft_pos=lb&draft_pos=cb&draft_pos=s&draft_pos=db&draft_pos=k&draft_pos=p
- ^ "Hunter Henry Stats Chargers - ESPN". espn.com. Retrieved 10 February 2017.