The first decade of Nick Saban’s tenure in Tuscaloosa has seen the Crimson Tide amass numerous championship trophies along with scores of NFL prospects.

As the 2017 NFL draft approaches, one of Alabama’s star players from the 2015 national championship team completed his rookie season in 2016 with the Tennessee Titans.

Derrick Henry rushed for 490 yards on 110 carries including five touchdowns and caught 13 passes for 137 yards in his first NFL season.

Former Mississippi State head coach and the current running backs coach for the Tennessee Titans reflected on Henry’s first season with the Titans on “Inside the Locker Room”.

“Derrick Henry had an outstanding year. He was playing behind DeMarco Murray who is an outstanding pro and had a Pro Bowl season, but the two of them together gave us a great run game combination.” Croom said.

The Tennessee Titans running backs coach described Henry’s potential and the areas of his game that could take the former Heisman Trophy winner to the next level.

“He has great potential to be an outstanding player. We hope to get him more involved this year. There were several things about him that we knew he was a good runner. He has great hands. I mean not good but great hands. He was an excellent receiver I think through the course of practice and in games last year, he dropped a total two passes the entire season. We just feel like there is a tremendous upside for him.” Croom said.

Besides raw talent, Croom also touched on the adjustment that prospects coming from college have to make when playing in the NFL.

“Once the season starts here, there’s no time limit. It’s 24 hours a day, I mean whatever you got to do to give yourself a chance to win, and that’s the biggest adjustment, the grind of the long season and the fact that it’s all day, every day. That is truly the big adjustment. It is a job now. The details of taking care of your body, adjusting to all of that. The scrutiny of a lot of your personal life/ All of that factors in your ability to adjust to this level.” Croom stated

Catch Inside the Locker Room every weekday from 7-9 AM on Tide 102.9/100.9 FM and the radioPup app.

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