Pro Football Weekly and Riddell present ...
2002 NFL draft
Run on run-stuffers continues
Jaguars fill big need with Tennessee’s Henderson
By Mike Holbrook, Managing editor of special projects
April 20, 2002
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| After losing Seth Payne and Gary Walker in the expansion draft and
Renaldo Wynn in free agency, the Jaguars clearly need defensive linemen. By the time they
were on the clock for their ninth pick, they had lost out on the guy they wanted most,
North Carolina’s Ryan Sims, so Jacksonville stuck with their greatest need and took
Tennessee’s John Henderson. Henderson was highly regarded going into his senior
season at Tennessee, then suffered a painful high ankle sprain in the team’s opening
game against Syracuse and struggled the rest of the season. Many teams felt that Henderson
was dogging it or playing like he was trying not to get hurt last season.
I’ve got to think that Henderson’s pride will make him a great value at No. 9
since he will be out to prove to all the teams who questioned him and downgraded him that
he deserved to be the top defensive tackle picked in this year’s draft. Call it the
Randy Moss factor, but whenever a supremely talented player drops, if he has any pride at
all, he is a threat to put up monster numbers to prove a point.
Jacksonville will be the beneficiary of Henderson’s motivation this season and
this team certainly needs the help in the interior of their defense. After a brutal
offseason in which the Jaguars had to cut millions and millions of dollars in salaries,
losing several outstanding players in the process, the Jaguars are in full rebuilding
mode.
Getting a young, physical defensive tackle will certainly help that process along.
Remember, DE Tony Brackens is still on board and last year’s top pick, DT Marcus
Stroud showed flashes of his huge potential. This is a rebuilding defense, and new
defensive coordinator John Pease now has some talent along the line to work with.
Interestingly, one of the players after Sims that the Jaguars were supposedly
interested in was Henderson’s collegiate teammate, Albert Haynesworth. Haynesworth is
a guy who came out of nowhere this year and zoomed up draft boards due to his great talent
and huge potential. I think the Jaguars decided that Haynesworth was too great of a risk
being a player who left school early and who most experts feel could be the best player in
the draft or a bust. There’s just no in between for him.
Henderson is clearly more mature and more polished and is the more solid pick for a
team that desperately needs players who can contribute right away. |
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