Anyone who has followed recruiting for a while has surely come across the relatively popular class-building slogan “the best players in Michigan Illinois go to Michigan.” Wait. [*looks through notes*] Actually, yes, this checks out. Really! In 2019, Michigan landed OT Trevor Keegan. In 2020, they have a verbal commitment from the subject of today’s post. In 2021, they have a verbal from QB JJ McCarthy. All three are the top-rated recruits in Illinois in their class, and all three have decided to pursue their education and blocky-throwy-catchy futures at the University of Michigan. How can this be? How can players who play in the same state as Lovie Smith’s beard not feel the gravitas, the pull of that sort of perfection? How can players who play in the same state as Pat Fitzgerald something something cell phones?

This post does not contain an answer to that question, but it does have a full game of footage and a scouting report of Michigan's top 2020 prospect, AJ Henning, who is currently #89 overall in 247's composite. Schools far outside the state of Illinois were in the mix for Henning's commitment; he visited Georgia, Penn State, and Notre Dame before choosing Michigan. 247's crystal ball had Henning a Notre Dame lean toward the end of the recruiting process before Josh Gattis' vision for Henning's deployment and the commitment of McCarthy, his 7-on-7 teammate, moved the needle. A recruiting roundup from May noted that Gattis used spring film to show Henning how they would use him in the slot, on the outside, and in the backfield. Let's dive in and look for that kind of versatility in the available footage.

[After THE JUMP: every-snap film and scouting]

AJ Henning Every-Snap Film

Scouting

[00:00] He accidentally blocked the linebacker into his teammate but that’s a pretty explosive shoulder block on a guy who’s much larger than Henning.

[00:21] Looks to me like he would have gained more yards had he just made a cut and headed north instead of looking to get the sideline.

[00:57] Nice juke to create more space for himself in the middle of the run (about the time he reaches the line of scrimmage). Displays the kind of lower-body strength that allows him to run through arm tackles and, in this instance, head-on technically-sound tackles. Excellent run.

[1:15] Nice catch on a ball that’s high and outside his body.

[1:42] Henning does a nice job feigning inside to get the corner flat-footed and snaps the route quickly to the outside. The route isn’t the star of this clip, as that honor goes to his hands thanks to a catch that’s made while diving on a ball way outside.

[1:52] Oh my. Henning sells an in-breaking route and twists the safety. He’s able to plant his final step on the fake in and push downfield off that leg, and his long stride plus speed leaves the safety woefully behind. Easy touchdown thanks to Henning’s route running.

[2:16] Some pretty good blocking.

[2:27] One cut and accelerates and that’s exactly what you want to see. I’m surprise the arm tackle brings him down considering the run earlier where he bowled over people.

[2:54] Conventional catch.

[3:02] More route running that would be nasty against a corner in man coverage. Deep safety is able to cover, though.

[3:24] Henning has a verified 40 time of 4.46 seconds from an Opening regional in April, and here he creates inside leverage and just tries to run past a guy. It works, but the pass is a bit overthrown.

[3:46] Does a pretty nice job pressing the hole before widening to bounce outside. Uses his aforementioned speed to get the corner and turn it up the sideline for a few extra yards.

[3:57] Nice patience and vision to see his guy getting pushed back and knowing he needs to run down the line before he can hit the opening.

[4:12] Runs through an ankle tackle.

[4:23] Another run where he displays good vision and strong legs. Presses, sees nothing, bounces backside and runs through at least two tackles.

[4:54] Well dang. Lowers his pads and breaks four tackles en route to a TD. After rewinding this a few times I think Henning sees the free hitter in the hole and takes a step toward him, then uses the next step to shift his path a little bit inside. This causes the tackle to be a glancing blow to the hip instead of a head-on wrap and everything else falls into place.

[5:19] The curl was not crisp, but his acceleration after catching and turning is excellent.

[5:50] The ball doesn’t go Henning’s way but he shows a nice chop and shoulder turn to bait the corner into leaning inside and creating space for himself to the outside.

[6:08] Henning creates space for himself again by planting a foot as if he’s running a quick out, then pushing off that outside foot to take the route inside the corner. The slight head fake at the top of the route doesn’t get the safety to bite, but it’s still a nicely run route.

[6:19] One thing that’s becoming clear over this tape is that he’ll need to sell his routes better when he’s fairly certain the ball isn’t going his way, because right now he’s more or less walking them.

[6:29] Great initial cut, great acceleration, and great spin through the first hit.

[6:58] Another run that shows he has plus skills when it comes to planting a foot and changing direction.

[7:43] Nice instincts to juke the would-be tackler coming free on the edge at the right time. If #68 doesn’t lose his block and there wasn’t another opposing player nearby, Henning would have broken the first tackle and gotten free for at least three or four more yards.

Summary

Henning wasn't targeted often--he was utilized more in this particular game as a running back--but when he was, he came down with the ball. He made moderately difficult catches look routine, ably snagging balls thrown in various directions outside his frame. He accelerates to top speed as fast as any prospect I've scouted the last four seasons. His route-running could use some cleaning up in terms of head fakes and syncing arms and feet, but he showed a great deal of promise in that area with his ability to sell a route going a certain direction and snap it the opposite way in a single step. He isn't a jitterbug juker, but he displayed a keen awareness of when a single juke would create needed space. Henning did excellent work with the ball in his hands, breaking tackles repeatedly and showing a Charbonnet-like ability to shift his path subtly and at the last second, causing would-be tacklers to hit from bad angles. Taken together, he can clearly succeed as a slot receiver

I don’t see Henning as a running back at Michigan due in part to current (Charbonnet et al.) and future (Corum) roster composition, as well as his skill catching the ball. It seems that particular talent would be underutilized at RB, but he could still regularly find a way into the backfield in a sense, at least; Henning would be an excellent weapon to deploy with jet or orbit motion. He clearly has the instincts, vision, and strength as a runner to be handed the ball off the aforementioned types of motion, creating a true threat and not just window dressing. 

There's nothing that I can see preventing Henning from playing on the outside. He's not going to be the top target on red zone fades, true, but that's not of utmost importance. His verified testing results from an Opening regional back that up, as his 37.3" vertical would have placed him 16th at last year's NFL combine; he can jump, but his leaping ability isn't so supernatural that it lends itself to a receiver a shade under 5'10" going after jump balls. But those same testing results also match what we see on film: he has breakaway speed (4.46 40), short-area quickness that will help him avoid getting jammed (4.08 shuttle, which would have placed him fourth at last year's combine), and plus ball skills that will allow him to be a contributor inside or outside.