The 2015 NFL Draft featured two running backs selected in the first round, the first time two or more ballcarriers had been chosen in the draft's initial 32 picks since three went in 2012. This year's draft will feature at least one back in the first - Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott - but what of Alabama's Derrick Henry, the 2016 Heisman Trophy-winner who finished his junior year with 2,219 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns?
"They ground him down," a college scouting director said of Henry, per Yahoo Sports' Shutdown Corner. "Nick [Saban] worked him, rode him to a title. If you look at our league, the number of [400-carry backs who] had big years the next year is small."
Henry powered through 406 touches in 15 games last year. That, combined with the putrid professional performance of the last big Crimson Tide running back to hit the NFL, Trent Richardson, probably has some teams shying away from Henry. So does the career of Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell. Bell finished his final season at Michigan State with 414 carries and while he's proven to be an extremely valuable player, has also struggled with injuries at the NFL level.
All that being said though, talent is the trump card and the 6-foot-3, 246-pound Henry certainly has it in spades.
"They run gap, they run man [blocking schemes]," the director said of the Alabama offense, per Yahoo. "They use inside and outside zone, old-school run game - traps, counters, stuff like that. Put him in the Panthers' offense? My goodness.
"But I could see him in the Sean Payton [offense]. I could see him in the Patriots offense. The Jets, the Cowboys, even the Vikings, a four-minute back you finish teams off with. He has a role for sure."
Henry's bruising style and surprising athleticism certainly make him worthy of a first-round pick, but any team that consider him that highly will have to take into account his mammoth workload and the physical toll its already taken on his body.
