First of all, I wish the kid the best of luck. He always carried himself with class and integrity. Was great with the media. From everything we heard was a terrific teammate and well-liked by the coaches. His basement NFL projection is third round. Could go higher if he tests well and as more teams see film of him and see what he can do. I think he would have helped himself had he returned and played tackle in a 4-3 so that he could have given scouts even more reason to like him, but he had his own reasons for going now, and I'm sure a lot of them had to do with taking care of family and himself.
As Pierre Woods told me a few months back for an interview, "Kids coming out of Glenville ain't rich. There's no one there that has any money so as soon as you have a chance to play in the NFL, you take it."
This is a loss for Michigan, no doubt. Yes, the defensive line is a deep position for U-M, and the Wolverines get redshirt sophomore Bryan Mone back next year and fifth-year senior Ryan Glasgow, and should get some sort of contribution from redshirt freshmen Shelton Johnson and Reuben Jones, who both redshirted, but Henry in my opinion could have had a Brandon Graham-like senior year. I like him more than I like fifth-year senior Chris Wormley because I think he has a more explosive first step. If he came back, he could have had 10 sacks. We'll never know.
I really caution to say what Michigan's two-deep will look like next year because we don't know Don Brown and we don't know how players will develop over the next few months. On the surface, senior Taco Charlton is likely your go-to defensive end in terms of a pass rush, with Wormley, Glasgow and some combination of Mone/redshirt junior Maurice Hurst as your starters, but Johnson, Jones, and early-enrollee freshman Carlo Kemp could all crash that party.
I still think that Tom Strobel is not asked back for a fifth year, but it's far more likely that Matt Godin gets a fifth year now that Henry is gone. He would obviously factor into the rotation along the line, likely as an interior player as he doesn't have the foot-speed of Henry, Wormley or Charlton to play outside.
Redshirt sophomore Lawrence Marshall should also be a factor if he can stay out of trouble. The kid has enormous talent and could be that breakout player in 2016 but once you're in Jim Harbaugh's doghouse, you don't easily get out of it and he spent almost all of 2015 in it. He rebounded in bowl practices but one slip-up and he's likely out of chances.
Just last week we wrote about attrition and how quickly things were going to change. In the past two days, Michigan has seen three players with eligibility depart and a commitment (CB Sir Patrick Scott) plus the possibility of a few more decommitments and more exits from the current roster to come. U-M is committed to 64 scholarship players for next season and has 23 commitments, bringing Michigan's total to 87. The Wolverines are a lot closer to 85 than they were a few days ago, though obviously there is more to come.
As Pierre Woods told me a few months back for an interview, "Kids coming out of Glenville ain't rich. There's no one there that has any money so as soon as you have a chance to play in the NFL, you take it."
This is a loss for Michigan, no doubt. Yes, the defensive line is a deep position for U-M, and the Wolverines get redshirt sophomore Bryan Mone back next year and fifth-year senior Ryan Glasgow, and should get some sort of contribution from redshirt freshmen Shelton Johnson and Reuben Jones, who both redshirted, but Henry in my opinion could have had a Brandon Graham-like senior year. I like him more than I like fifth-year senior Chris Wormley because I think he has a more explosive first step. If he came back, he could have had 10 sacks. We'll never know.
I really caution to say what Michigan's two-deep will look like next year because we don't know Don Brown and we don't know how players will develop over the next few months. On the surface, senior Taco Charlton is likely your go-to defensive end in terms of a pass rush, with Wormley, Glasgow and some combination of Mone/redshirt junior Maurice Hurst as your starters, but Johnson, Jones, and early-enrollee freshman Carlo Kemp could all crash that party.
I still think that Tom Strobel is not asked back for a fifth year, but it's far more likely that Matt Godin gets a fifth year now that Henry is gone. He would obviously factor into the rotation along the line, likely as an interior player as he doesn't have the foot-speed of Henry, Wormley or Charlton to play outside.
Redshirt sophomore Lawrence Marshall should also be a factor if he can stay out of trouble. The kid has enormous talent and could be that breakout player in 2016 but once you're in Jim Harbaugh's doghouse, you don't easily get out of it and he spent almost all of 2015 in it. He rebounded in bowl practices but one slip-up and he's likely out of chances.
Just last week we wrote about attrition and how quickly things were going to change. In the past two days, Michigan has seen three players with eligibility depart and a commitment (CB Sir Patrick Scott) plus the possibility of a few more decommitments and more exits from the current roster to come. U-M is committed to 64 scholarship players for next season and has 23 commitments, bringing Michigan's total to 87. The Wolverines are a lot closer to 85 than they were a few days ago, though obviously there is more to come.
