Steelers Doing Homework on Washington State's Daiyan Henley
INDIANAPOLIS -- The next wave of NFL linebackers took the podium first during this week's NFL Combine and the Pittsburgh Steelers are showing notable interest in many of the class's top off-ball linebackers, including Washington State's Daiyan Henley.
Henley's an older prospect who started his career at Nevada before transferring this past fall, a move that clearly paid dividends after he posted his most productive campaign to date.
"Thought-free, instinctive and reactive," Henley said about what his best football looks like. "At that point, if I'm playing my best football, I know what's coming next and anticipating the play."
Of course, he was asked about his transition from wide receiver and how that has aided him throughout his journey.
"A lot of people don't know about blind spots, different things about receiver that people don't know about that I was learning when I got to college," he said. "I use that to my advantage to cover, make sure that I don't open my shoulders too fast because I might be on the high shoulder. Those things I'm thinking about before the play starts so when the play does start, it's just reacting."
As a former wide receiver, he's best known for being a twitched-up athlete, so I asked him about how much of his play style is based on his athleticism and how much is based on instincts and film study.
"The athleticism part is that sideline to sideline, making those angles and movements that not many people can make," Henley responded. "Get in the backfield and shift my hips, that's the athletic part.
"But coming downhill, it's definitely more technique and instinctive. You can't really be too much of an athlete inside the box, the athleticism shows up more in the pass rush and the cover game. When you're in that box, the technique and instincts have to take over in order for you to be a good linebacker."
Henley got his first exposure to Mike Tomlin at the Senior Bowl down in Mobile, AL. He referred to Tomlin as a "good dude, solid dude who's a natural to talk to."
Henley stated that he'll have the chance to meet with the Steelers again tomorrow in Indianapolis. He definitely came off as a student of the game and despite being still extremely new to the defensive side of the ball, he's already built up quality film study habits to pair with his impressive athletic abilities.
On tape, Henley's best reps come when he can run free sideline to sideline and show off his range while gliding in space to the ball carrier. There's notable upside present with his ability to cover at the next level as he looks very fluid in his drops down the field.
There's development needed in terms of playing more in control when working downhill, improving his block deconstruction skills and overall processing. Some of that is likely just due to the fact that he's still relatively new to the position in comparison to other players in this class that have been playing this side of the ball for the last decade-plus.
I feel pretty confident that we haven't seen the best of Daiyan Henley just yet and that's a big reason that I believe he'll come off of the board before the end of day two during the NFL Draft weekend. Perhaps it'll be the Pittsburgh Steelers that are willing to bet on his traits and upside to anchor the middle of their defense for years to come.
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