The New England Patriots had big hopes for TreVeyon Henderson. They took things slowly with him in his first year in the league, but Rhamondre Stevenson's unimpressive play and Henderson's draft stock as an early second-round pick ultimately forced him onto the field.
Now, Henderson is likely slated to start at running back for Mike Vrabel's team. However, as much as that's a logical course of action, the former Ohio State star will have to make plenty of adjustments to his game to live up to the hype.
TreVeyon Henderson Needs to Work on His Vision
Dating back to his days in college, Henderson was always known as a home run hitter, and that was also the case as an NFL rookie. Per Next Gen Stats, he had two of the 20 fastest rushes in the league last season, including one in which he topped 22.01 MPH on a 55-yard touchdown.
All in all, he scored four touchdowns of 50+ yards, and he also had two 'remarkable rushes,' rushes where the ball-carrier "greatly defies expectations" with big gains in Rushing Yards Over Expected, with one of those carries going for 68 RYOE. Clearly, he can turn the corner in the blink of an eye and get off to the races.
However, he doesn't do much damage when he's not creating explosive plays. His vision is inconsistent; he's constantly running into people and seeking contact rather than avoiding it. That's not efficient, healthy, or sustainable in the pros. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he averaged 3.26 yards after contact, and the fact that he forced 31 missed tackles only shows he would be much better off evading defenders rather than trying to run them over.
If that's not concerning enough, Henderson also struggled mightily in pass protection. He drew a pass-blocking grade of 27.8, allowing 11 total pressures, including eight hurries and three sacks. Plain and simple, Henderson wasn't physical enough or involved enough to make an impact there.
The former Ohio State standout clearly has all the talent in the world, but Henderson can also be his own worst enemy. Some of that can be coached out of his game, but he didn't show much improvement in his first year in the league from his college days, so that's perhaps just who he is.
With Stevenson's never-ending ball-security issues, the Patriots might be setting themselves up for disappointment with their running back corps next season. Expectations will be much higher in year two, and Henderson won't be given any slack this time.