Tony Pollard and Darrell Henderson are headed into the 2019 NFL Draft, and their accomplishments at the University of Memphis could benefit many NFL franchises.
Pollard and Henderson established a reputation for themselves by becoming dependable playmakers for the UofM football program for the last three seasons. They both enter the draft as juniors, and in just the previous season they displayed dominant performances as to why they should be drafted high and contribute to any team that chooses them.
In three seasons, Pollard demonstrated an ability that many players do not possess. Pollard achieved a reputation for being a dominant, versatile force as a returner, receiver and rusher for his first two seasons. Pollard has six touchdowns from kickoffs in two years. Pollard became recognized as a return specialist despite scoring nine touchdowns through receiving and rushing in 2016 and 2017. Pollard was known for his special teams capabilities after he won the American Athletic Conference special teams Player of the Year award as a freshman and a sophomore.
Henderson watched the Memphis Tigers transition from a pass-dominant team into an offense that revolved around any opportunity to place the ball in his hands. Henderson slowly developed into a Heisman candidate with his impressive skill as a nearly unstoppable force of a player in 2018. Henderson quickly found himself on track to break records and scoreboards game after game. Henderson earned the AAC record for rushing yards in a season with 1,909, the second most in the NCAA for the 2018 season.
The highlight reels for both players long and detailed, but some of their best games need to be highlighted.
Pollard
ECU, Nov. 3
The Tigers Football team found themselves in an unfamiliar position in the season at 4-4 (1-3 AAC) after losing to the Mizzou Tigers in Columbia, Missouri. The team was on the brink of becoming an under .500 team unless they could defeat an underachieving ECU team at 2-5 (0-4 AAC) in Greenville, North Carolina. Pollard had one of his best rushing display of the year with a 9.9 average per carry on nine attempts, 89 yards and a season-high of two touchdowns. The team would keep several post-season hopes alive with the comeback win they needed.
Houston, Nov. 23
It was early morning on Black Friday and the last game the senior class would play in the Liberty Bowl. But the biggest emotion behind the game the possibility Memphis could take was the West Division with a win against a Houston team in decline. All the right things happened to give the team this chance, and Pollard had his best receiving performance in a pivotal regular season finale. Pollard had a season-high eight receptions with a long of 44 yards. Pollard also had a season-high of 116 yards that was more than twice his second best performance and a 14.5 average yards per catch. Memphis found themselves booking a flight to Orlando, Florida, to play in an AAC Championship after winning the game.
Wake Forest, Jared Birmingham Bowl, Dec. 22
The final game of the 2018 season was one of Pollard’s best games as he rushed for a season-high of 109 yards with an average yards per carry of 6.4 on 17 attempts. This was also the only game of the season Pollard found the end zone on a kickoff. A second quarter 97-yard kick return tied the NCAA FBS record for career kickoff returns at seven. Pollard had 318 all-purpose yards in a game that would be his last.
Henderson
Navy, Sept. 8
An early season conference game proved to be an early test for both teams during a stormy day in Annapolis, Maryland. The Tigers found themselves having quite some difficulty producing anything on offense, and they needed to adapt to the game conditions because the pass offense was faltering. Henderson led the team by scoring all three touchdowns the Tigers had. It was a performance that displayed Henderson’s potential in a game that could have gone either way.
Georgia State, Sept. 24
Any game when Henderson got an opportunity to run he typically excelled. However, this is the game where his abilities were put on full display. Henderson ran for a season-high 233 yards and a season-high 16.6 yards per carry. Henderson excelled in this game and helped defeat a Georgia State team teams only attempted returning touchdowns in the regular season quite easily. This game established Henderson’s dependency.
UCF, AAC Championship, Dec. 1
Memphis had the task of facing a UCF team twice, and both times Henderson had incredible games. Henderson would put up the same numbers against a UCF defense as he would a Georgia State or South Alabama team. The more notable game was the AAC Championship game. It was in Orlando, Florida, and Henderson had four touchdowns in the first half. Henderson led the team to two 17 point leads over a top ten ranked team in their turf. It was Henderson’s last game, and he had a dominant game that showed his potential.
Both Pollard and Henderson will leave gaps in the team that could never be filled the same way again. In the 2018 season, the Tigers scored 80 touchdowns for a combined 480 points. Pollard scored 10 touchdowns, and Henderson scored 25 touchdowns for a total of 210 points. Pollard contributed 12.5 percent, and Henderson contributed 31.25 percent of the total number of touchdowns scored. The duo had a combined 43.75 percent of the touchdowns for the entire football team. The Tigers had 7,324 offensive yards, and it was the highest amount in the AAC. Pollard had 1,010 total yards, and Henderson had 2,204 total yards. Pollard and Henderson had a combined 44 percent of the teams offensive yards in 2018.
Which NFL teams need them the most
Pollard
Pollard is a versatile player who is more flexible with a handful of positions. Pollard has demonstrated he can rush, receive and return well enough to be seen Sunday, but many teams could target Pollard for multiple reasons. I expect Pollard to be drafted somewhat higher than expected because someone is going to view him as an athlete who can be moved around.
Pollard is classified as a wide receiver, but scouts will soon dis- cover he is not confined to that position. Pollard could easily be in Miami or Washington D.C. for his returning abilities because both teams only attempted returning kickoffs 13 times. Pollard could, of course, fit in anywhere for a multitude of reasons depending on which team gets to him first. The biggest question is how that team will use him.
Henderson
Henderson had more rushing yards in 13 games than 21 NFL teams did in the regular season, but that does not mean too much. Several teams showed very little skill in the tailback/running back position over the regular season. San Francisco, Miami, Jacksonville, Oakland, Minnesota and Arizona all had nine or fewer rushing touchdowns in the regular season. It isn't much of a surprise that they did not make it into the post season with that burden.
Atlanta, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Arizona were all teams that averaged fewer than 100 rushing yards per game, but some of those teams utilize a pass-heavy play style and do not rely on run offense. Henderson could easily help balance an offense if needed.
These teams could easily use a player like Henderson to revitalize their run offense, but if they want to see Henderson excel, there needs to be some strong attention put on what the offensive line can do for him.
