Hello: AJ Henning
When 2021 IL QB JJ McCarthy dropped for Michigan a couple months ago one of the guys posting eyes emojis in the aftermath was AJ Henning, McCarthy's seven-on-seven teammate. Fast forward past one brief Georgia scare and lo, it has come to pass: AJ Henning is the fifth slot WR Michigan's recruited in the last two classes.
GURU RANKINGS
| Rivals | ESPN | 24/7 | Composite |
| 4*, #84 overall #3 APB, #2 IL |
4*, #105 overall #17 WR, #1 IL |
4*, #127 overall #26 WR, #1 IL |
4*, #80 overall #16 WR, #1 IL |
A tight band around 100th. Should be noted that Henning debuted in five-star territory on 24/7 at #25 before a 100-spot drop. Rivals bounced him down as well but boosted him most of the way back towards his initial ranking once it became clear that the hip flexor issue that cost him a big chunk of his junior season hadn't caused him to lose his speed.
SCOUTING
Henning (#3) is one of these guys:
He's not a jitterbug who's going to make three cuts before taking off, but his ability to start and stop frequently baffles high school opposition, and once he gets a lane he outruns pursuit angles. Allen Trieu:
Compact …elite speed. Great burst and acceleration ... Very good hands. Catches the ball well away from his body and shows the ability to go up and catch passes that are above his head. … some elusiveness after the catch. Versatile … Needs to still continue to work on route-running and wide receiver technique if that is what he will do more of in college. …true home-run threat.
…has “good luck next time” acceleration. …surges upfield off the snap … natural receiver … tremendous 10- and 20-yard speed …stop-on-a-dime ability … excellent ball skills and the ability to gain last-second separation as the ball arrives. …bouncy athlete whose quick moves in the open field catch would-be tacklers off guard. …long, explosive stride in the open field, belying his 5-foot-10 height.
Other takes on his speedy speed include "…displayed blazing speed and athleticism" and "tested very well … moved at a different speed" from a couple of camps.
[After the JUMP: things other than "he's fast." Also some more "he's fast."]
Should be noted that the latter one is from an Opening regional in which Henning did not make their top 5 performers on offense. Trieu mentioned that in his post-commit analysis:
- Shows good ball skills on his tape. They even threw him some fades on his tape. He did not catch it as clean at The Opening Regionals in the spring, but he may have been a tad rusty on the football stuff. At any rate, he is a very capable receiver.
That is a bit of a warning but as Trieu mentions that's a relatively low number of reps at a camp.
Most other evaluations note that in addition to being a very fast short guy Henning also looks like a real wide receiver. His coach:
“He’s an all-class type sprinter speed. But, it’s also his ball skills. He catches everything that is near him. …probably more of a true receiver, slot or even a number one …can get some reps at tailback."
…more than just an explosive athlete, he’s a natural football player. He runs routes like a wide receiver and his ball skills are outstanding … high points the ball well, shows excellent body control and impressive focus when defenders are around him.
ND's Rivals site made a comparison that's interesting:
…special acceleration. … explodes out of breaks and runs by defenders with ease. … has to clean up his technique, but he shows a good feel for working open and setting up defenders. What I really like about Henning is that despite his size – or lack thereof – he is able to make plays down the field because of hands and ball skills. Henning reminds me of former Notre Dame standout Golden Tate in that his ball skills allow him to play bigger than 5-10 down the field.
His tape does give off a Jeremy Gallon vibe as he high-points various balls at surprisingly high points for a 5'10" guy, and then pops open on hitch routes when the opposition gives him a comically large cushion. The cushions will be smaller but the speed is likely to translate.
Michigan has talked to Henning about being a swiss army knife:
“What Gattis brings to the table, they’re going to be totally different on offense, running a lot of RPO stuff, their big thing is speed in space and what I was able to see this spring, I saw a lot of what I’d do being in the backfield, slot and at the one receiver position.”
Henning will hopefully have enough versatility to not tip a package when he's on the field.
OFFERS
Henning had a bunch and they were all of the committable variety. He pulled the trigger right after consecutive weekend trips to Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Michigan. Stanford and Northwestern also offered. As his coach says:
“The most important thing is he is an Honor Roll student with a lot of character. That’s what we don’t want to lose sight of.”
HIGH SCHOOL
Henning is the first Lincoln Way East player to head to Michigan. The school has put out a few guys who've gone to Illinois or Northwestern, none of whom pop out as notable.
STATS
I couldn't find anything that seemed like a full season. Henning's junior year was injury-abbreviated even after the hip flexor injury.
FAKE 40 TIME
This is a laser time from an Opening Regional and thus gets no fakes, and it comes with a bonus shuttle:
The 5-foot-10, 183-pound Henning has laser-timed 4.46 speed in the 40-yard dash with a 4.08 shuttle from The Opening Regional series this spring. He is arguably the most dynamic prospect in the Midwest when the ball is in his hands.
Also he has a 10.7 100M time. He is fast.
VIDEO
The punt return captured above is actually on his sophomore highlight reel:
Note that probably 75% of this is Henning operating as an outside WR, with various snaps in the backfield concentrated during his sophomore year. At Michigan he's almost certainly going to be a slot since there will be tall people on the team who can do receiver things, but if that was not the case he might end up being reminiscent of Gallon. Henning can get up; he has receiver skills that should allow him to be more than a jet sweep freakshow.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
Of all the schools to have a SLOT WAR brewing, Michigan is perhaps the most unlikely. But with Giles Jackson, Mike Sainristil, George Johnson III, and Eamonn Dennis all headed to Michigan as slots in addition to Henning it's going to be fierce competition for what's approximately one spot on the offense.
The "approximately" acknowledges the possibility that one of the slot guys could be an effective outside WR. Henning looks like the most likely of the crew to manage that.
But your guess is as good as mine as to who's going to get the little guy who ghosts out of tackles reps.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Henning is the second slot and fifth in the last two classes; the inn is full. A more comprehensive look at the class should probably wait until Blake Corum and The Tenth Guy announce. In brief: everything is fine except there are no DTs either in the class or particularly close to it.
Way to GoBlue!
I hear from the internet, now Hennithing is possible.
Brian's point about the issue with DT recruiting is...intriguing to me. We had Denver Warren in the fold until he decommitted last November. In his tweet, Warren indicated it was, in part, "due to the university not having enough room for me on the D-Line roster for 2020". It was my understanding that Warren was recruited as a DT, so what gives?
A few things:
1) A number of the "DE" recruits will end up inside. I personally think that is a good way to recruit, however I don't necessarily agree with the way Michigan has approached it in recent years (they slowly grow them into the position and actually switch positions as they grow, rather than start them early on the inside).
2) Michigan is likely going to be playing more-and-more 3 DL. I think combined 1) and 2) combined with Michigan not really going hard after any pure-interior DL prospects gives you an idea that Michigan isn't as desperate to add interior DL as many fans are.
3) "Not enough room" was predicated on there being other guys still on the roster.
4) "Not enough room" is one "reason" Warren isn't in the class. Very possible it is not the only reason, or even the main reason.
Thanks for the insight - we can always count on good ol' Space Coyote!
I thought I remember hearing that Warren had some off the field issues that Michigan didn't want to deal with and he was basically processed? But I could be remembering incorrectly
Go Blu3
I think the idea of "slot" is a bit out-dated. The average WR in the NFL is a hair under 6'0". The main point about height/size has to do with the X-WR position (the one that lines right on the LOS). Gattis's offense is traditionally going to be 11 or 12 personnel, and will typically have a slot and a Z-WR that aligns off the LOS and thus can utilize motion and the cushion provided them to avoid a lot of press coverage. At the end of the day, guys are going to rotate around, DPJ can play slot/X/Z, Nico and Black can play X/Z. Some of the "slot" guys will be slot/Z. So you can get a good number of these guys on the field.
True...OBJ and Antonio Brown are certainly 2 of the top 5 WR in the league and both are under 6 ft.
So...no one actually thinks Gattis will be with M longer than what...2 years max? Hell with an explosive offense, he'll get offers after this year, from Illinois, at least 1 SEC school looking for another Saban disciple, and who knows who else. Having all these exceptionally fast slot types on the roster after he leaves...think Harbaugh will hire a similar type guy?
You really want a discussion about our next OC before Gattis has coached a game here? Maybe it won't even work out. How are we supposed to know what Harbaugh thinks when Harbaugh doesn't know what Harbaugh thinks? Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Gattis isn't around long but I'd guess 2 years minimum. He's still very young and this will be his first year as full OC. A school would be stupid to hire a guy like that as an HC even if Michigan wins it all.
If Gattis is very successful at Michigan he definitely would get inquiries as HC even after year one, but that does not mean they are all great jobs. Do you really want to take over a 3-9 Illinois? He could establish an offense at Michigan over 4-5 years and then have legit interest from big time programs where success is more likely. I believe this is the route Kirby Smart took.
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