Although strength of schedule is something that isn’t factored into this data, and the competition in the C-USA division isn’t particularly strong,
he did dominate statistically by such a degree that it’s almost shocking.
Among all 35 charted wide receivers with at least 75 catches last season,
Henderson led the league in forced missed tackles per reception (0.59). He didn’t just lead the league, he victory-lapped all other players, more than doubling the next-closest wide receiver. This was the highest rate among all wide receivers with at least 25 targets since we began charting college games in 2014.
Henderson was no slouch in terms of yards after the catch per reception (9.57) either, ranking behind only Biletnikoff Award winner Dede Westbrook last season.
When looking at both metrics, Henderson appears to be in a league of his own.
Over the last three seasons, there are 186 instances of a wide receiver recording at least 100 targets in a single season. Henderson’s 2016 season is the one all the way at the top right.
What makes Henderson’s ranking here so remarkable is that he actually ranked quite highly in average depth of target. Of the aforementioned 35 wide receivers with at least 75 receptions, Henderson ranked second-highest in average depth of target (15.26.)
Of course, Henderson also ranked highly in a number of more traditional metrics. He led the league in touchdowns last season (19, tied with Corey Davis) and ranked sixth in receiving yards (1,530). He ranked seventh-best among all 149 wide receivers with at least 75 targets last season in yards per route run (3.55), 11th-best in yards per target (11.17), and 28th-best in drop rate (4.65.)
He never fumbled in his college career. He was also our highest-graded kick returner last season, returning two kicks for touchdowns and ranking third-best in average kick return (32.3) among all 77 players with at least 20 kick returns.
