TAMPA – Drew Henson said he would have been a “great” NFL quarterback had he stuck with football instead of becoming a full-time baseball player. He actually said that belief brings him peace of mind.
“I know what kind of quarterback I would have been,” Henson said. “That only solidifies my decision. I don’t need comments. I know what I would have done. I could have been great, I could have been as good as I want to be. But I decided to do what I really want to do.”
But what do outside observers think? Gil Brandt was the Cowboys’ VP of player personnel for 30 years and he continues to monitor college players as an NFL.com columnist. He said Henson was a subject at the recently completed NFL combine in Indianapolis and that the 23-year-old is “on the front of everyone’s radar screen.” Brandt thinks someplace in the seven rounds of the draft April 26-27 a team will take a gamble on the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder, though the word throughout the combine was Henson is committed fully to baseball.
Still, all that talk made Brandt curious enough to go back and look at the scouting report he had compiled on Henson from watching the quarterback play against Auburn, Indiana and Ohio State during the 2000 season, Henson’s last as a football player. Here is Brandt’s assessment from that report:
“Very talented. Excellent arm strength and height. Plays with above average intelligence and awareness. Good athletic ability and quickness and agility to avoid the rush. Very good drop. Lots of poise. Good job scanning the field. Quick release with snap. Will baseball change his arm action and make the ball sail? Can make all the throws. Accurate with the deep ball and crossing routes. Tends to hold the ball too long and take shots. But keeps coming back. Good toughness overall. Could be a franchise quarterback.”