Hunter Henry, TE, Los Angeles Chargers
Having also made the case that the New England Patriots should try and acquire the current Chargers’ tight end, it is time to add some critical caveats to that recommendation.
Granted, the upcoming rookie class of tight ends might not be the strongest group of players. Adam Trautman, the small school tight end from the University of Dayton, does have some promise. In addition to Dayton players such as Cole Kmet, Thaddeus Moss, Albert Okwuegbunam, Jared Pinkney and Hunter Bryant seem to have NFL futures in front of them. However, tight end is one of the more difficult positions in terms of making the transition from the college game to the pro game. From learning the blocking schemes and handling that aspect of the game to mastering a route tree against NFL secondaries, tight ends are often slow to contribute as rookies.
That will lead teams who need immediate contributions at the position – such as the Patriots – to the free agency markets. But the two big players there, Henry and Austin Hooper (more on him in a second) come with question marks. For Henry, it is his injury history. His second season in the NFL ended early, with a knee injury and a lacerated kidney. He came back for OTAs the next year, but tore his ACL and missed the entire regular season, returning for the Chargers’ Divisional Round meeting with the Patriots. Then last year Henry suffered a tibia plateau fracture to his left knee and missed the first five games of the season.
Henry might very well be the most complete and dynamic tight end available through both free agency and the draft. But he does not come without risk. The team that signs him would be wise to not place all of their eggs in the Henry basket, and sign and/or draft another tight end as a viable Plan B should Henry miss time in the year ahead. That is, of course, provided the Chargers do not simply use the franchise tag on the TE.