2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Daiyan Henley

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Daiyan Henley, 6-2/225 Inside Linebacker Washington State

Daiyan Henley Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Good instincts

Effective run defender

Sideline-to-sideline speed

Good tackler

Physical

Quick

Diagnosis skills

Read-and-react skills

Fits a 4-3 or 3-4 defense

Always around the ball

Quick to the flat

Closing speed

Rangy

Advanced pass-coverage linebacker

Can help cover against tight ends and running backs

Can drop into zone coverage

Dangerous blitzer

Strong, thick build

Durable

Athletic upside

Locker room leader

Upside; continues to improve

Weaknesses:

A little underweight

Not consistently a violent tackler

Not regularly explosive on contact

Summary: Henley started out his collegiate career playing wide receiver at Nevada. After two seasons, Henley switched to defense for 2019 and promptly suffered a season-ending injury. In 2020, he had 49 tackles in his first decent amount of playing time. Henley then broke out in 2021 with 103 tackles and four interceptions. Prior to his redshirt senior year, Henley transferred to Washington State. He then had an excellent 2022 season with the Cougars, totaled 106 tackles, four sacks, three forced fumbles, a pass broken up and one interception. After the season, Henley had an excellent week of practice at the Senior Bowl and performed well at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.

Henley is a solid tackler in the ground game, wrapping up ball-carriers and getting them to the ground. However, Henley slides into some tackles and does not always arrive with violence. It would be good to see him become more forceful and violent as a tackler for the next level. That would help to avoid missed tackles and being dragged for extra yardage. Henley has enough size and mentality to take on blocks, hold his ground, shed the block, and get in on tackles. He is also a fast defender with sideline-to-sideline speed. Henley is a dangerous seek-and-destroy linebacker who hunts down backs with a serious burst. He is a very good run defender and projects to be an asset to shut down and limit the offense’s ground game.



In pass coverage, Henley is a skilled defender. He is very fast as a blitzer, displaying excellent diagnosis skills. Henley reads plays quickly and covers a lot of ground in zone. He has the speed to run down the middle seam. On dump-off passes to the flat, Henley flies into the ball-carrier and is good at making tackles in space. His size and athleticism give him the potential to play some man coverage on tight ends and backs out of the backfield.

Henley looks likely to be a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He might get late first-round consideration from some NFL teams and should not fall out of Round 2.



Player Comparison: Lavonte David. Henley reminds me of David. David (6-1, 230) and Henley are nearly identical in size and showed sideline-to-sideline speed in college. David was a second-round pick, and Henley should go in the second round this year during the 2023 NFL Draft.

2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Devon Achane, RB, Texas A&M Adetomiwa Adebawore, DE, Northwestern Jordan Addison, WR, USC Will Anderson, DE, Alabama Felix Anudike-Uzomah, DE, Kansas State Steve Avila, G, TCU Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland Micah Baskerville, LB, LSU Keeanu Benton, DT, Wisconsin Matthew Bergeron, OT, Syracuse Mekhi Blackmon, CB, USC Kayshon Boutte, WR, LSU Brian Branch, S, Alabama Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State Bryan Bresee, DT, Clemson Chase Brown, RB, Illinois Sydney Brown, S, Illinois Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA Malik Cunningham, QB, Louisvile Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina Max Duggan, QB, TCU Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Notre Dame Isaiah Foskey, DE, Notre Dame Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon Derick Hall, OLB, Auburn Jaren Hall, QB, BYU Anton Harrison, OT, Oklahoma Daiyan Henley, LB, Washington State Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee Siaki Ika, DT, Baylor Antonio Johnson, S, Texas A&M Paris Johnson, OT, Ohio State Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU Broderick Jones, G, Georgia Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa Will Levis, QB, Kentucky Quan Martin, CB, Illinois Cody Mauch, G, North Dakota State Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame Will McDonald, DE, Iowa State Kenny McIntosh, RB, Georgia Tanner McKee, QB, Stanford Kendre Miller, RB, TCU Jonathan Mingo, WR, Ole Miss Cam Mitchell, CB, Northwestern Malachi Moore, S, Alabama Mike Morris, DE, Michigan Wanya Morris, OT, Oklahoma Myles Murphy, DE, Clemson Luke Musgrave, TE, Oregon State Zion Nelson, OT, Miami B.J. Ojulari, OLB, LSU Demarvion Overshown, LB, Texas Owen Pappoe, LB, Auburn Jarrett Patterson, C, Notre Dame Clark Phillips, CB, Utah Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas Chris Rodriguez, RB, Kentucky Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas Noah Sewell, LB, Oregon Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan Nolan Smith, DE, Georgia Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota Tyler Steen, OT, Alabama Tyrique Stevenson, CB, Miami C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee Joe Tippman, C, Wisconsin O'Cyrus Torrence, G, Florida Henry To'oTo'o, LB, Alabama Tuli Tuipulotu, DE, USC D.J. Turner, CB, Michigan Lukas Van Ness, DE, Iowa Deuce Vaughn, RB, Kansas State Tyree Wilson, DE, Texas Tech Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia Keion White, DE, Georgia Tech Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee Bryce Young, QB, Alabama

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