Kerrigan and Hendrickson I guess measure out pretty much identically, but I hadn't been tempted to make that comparison. I was a fan of Kerrigan's. I'm a fan of Hendrickson's.
Hendrickson to me plays with far more athleticism, more than his 4.6-whatever forty implies. You can see it in two of the scientific measures that went under the radar at the Combine.
For one, there was the ten yard split at somewhere between 1.59 and 1.62 seconds (I've seen 1.59, 1.60 and 1.62). I think Jordan Willis is legitimately faster in the ten yard than Hendrickson, but the ten yard split pretty perfectly corresponded with what I saw on game film with Hendrickson as well as what I saw in live practices.
Then there was the 60 yard shuttle which Hendrickson did in the 5th fastest time measured for ANY position at the Combine since 2006.
You want a functional measure of football agility AND speed AND endurance...it's in that 60 yard shuttle, which is underrated as a Combine measure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRP84RwIv6Q
The reason I bring all this up is because to me Hendrickson absolutely is a speed story, a speed, agility, pass rusher. He's not a try hard white guy. He's closer to a Cliff Avril than he is a Ryan Kerrigan. He's a speed player.
I watched this kid show up to Shrine practices and dominate. He didn't stand out, he dominated. I don't use that word lightly. I've applied that word to Josh Norman, who came out of nowhere at Coastal Carolina (I'd never watched him) and absolutely dominated the practices. I said at the time he practiced like a 1st round pick. I've seen Kam Chancellor dominate. I've seen Rodger Saffold dominate. I've seen Brandon Brooks dominate those practices. I've seen Greg Hardy dominate those practices. I watched Javon Hargrave dominate them. I've also watched other guys like Mike Daniels, Earl Mitchell, Alterraun Verner, Julius Thomas, Shelley Smith, Ali Villanueva, Jordan Cameron, Terron Armstead, and Devin Taylor stand out in those practices...but not necessarily dominate.
He had 9 sacks, 13 hits and a whopping 56 hurries at FAU this year. He was an animal.
So he dominates at college, he dominates the Shrine practices, dominates the Shrine game itself, then shows up to the Combine and turns in one of the best performances of anyone...all pretty strong evidence in his favor.
I think he's either a poor man's Derek Rivers, or Derek Rivers is a poor man's Trey Hendrickson. It's just going to be in the eye of the beholder. Rivers has different hand placement, keeps his hands inside the frame of the blocker. But I think Hendrickson is more relentless and versatile. They'll both have a tendency to give offenses hell because of their athletic ability. They can just flat out run, and get around blocks. What I see in Hendrickson, something I saw in practice that is corroborated on film, is that he can start to hit a groove where he's using that athletic ability a variety of ways to get into a rhythm, beating blockers and making plays. That's the danger when you're going up against him; when he starts to figure things out and get into a rhythm, it's painful for the other side. He's got every move in the book at his disposal, not afraid to use that variety, and he uses his hands well to keep blockers off his body, freeing himself to use that athleticism to full effect. When he gets into a rhythm building one move off the other, that starts to be real intriguing. He's got the speed, frame, strength, hand use, agility, all of that stuff...to be able to get himself into that rhythm at any time.
Teams are onto him. I've heard from two sources that he has a reputation (among agents) for being a little bit of a headache. That wouldn't phase me though.
But, I would take him over Wise. I think Wise is going to have a good NFL career, but I agree that I'd take Hendrickson over Wise, because Wise does carry some concerns. Between Hendrickson and Hall, I'd favor Hall. I agree that Hendrickson is a late-2nd/early 3rd. I think Hall is more of an early second. Top-50 player for me.
