A.J. Henning, Ex-Wolverine

Tag: A.J. Henning


24Apr 2023
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A.J. Henning, Ex-Wolverine

A.J. Henning

Rising senior wide receiver A.J. Henning is entering the transfer portal. A class of 2020 signee, he still has two years of eligibility remaining.

I missed on Henning when I gave him a TTB Rating of 89 (LINK), making a comparison to Jeremy Gallon. The recruiting services also seem to have missed on him so far, ranking him as a 4-star, the #18 wide receiver, and #102 overall in the 247 Composite. He still has a couple seasons to reach that level, but he hasn’t shown a ton so far outside of a couple big plays against MAC-level teams. In fact, I wrote about him back in December as someone to look out for as a potential early departure (LINK).

Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, and others pursued Henning out of Frankfort (IL) Lincoln-Way East, but the Wolverines won that recruiting battle. He made a minimal impact in 2020 with just 9 touches, but he showed promise in 2021 when he ran 9 times for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns – including a memorable end around for a TD against Ohio State – and caught 10 passes for 79 yards. But his offensive usage tailed off in 2022, when he tallied just 12 offensive touches (9 catches, 3 carries); his most memorable moment of his final season was a punt return touchdown against UConn.

Where Henning’s departure will be felt most is on special teams, where he returned 28 punts for 201 yards (7.2 yards/return) and the 1 touchdown; he also returned 11 kickoffs for 241 yards (21.9 yards/return). But in general, that type of production is replaceable. In fact, no leading kick returner in the Jim Harbaugh era has had a lower average except Ambry Thomas in 2017-2018, and Henning had the lowest punt return average of anyone in that span, too.

So, in other words, I don’t think Henning is a terrible player . . . but this might end up being addition by subtraction overall. All other punt returners (Ronnie Bell, D.J. Turner II) are headed to the NFL, so somebody brand new will be returning punts. Meanwhile, Roman Wilson averaged 22.8 yards/return on kickoff returns, so he might be a candidate to return kicks, along with freshman running back Cole Cabana, sophomore running back C.J. Stokes, and others.

Henning is the ninth member of the 2020 class to depart, joining CB Darion Green-Warren (Nevada), DE Aaron Lewis (Rutgers), LB William Mohan (Tennessee), S Jordan Morant (Mississippi State), LB Osman Savage (Alabama A&M), CB Andre Seldon, Jr. (New Mexico State), QB Dan Villari (Syracuse), and LB Cornell Wheeler (Kansas)

9Dec 2022
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Potential Departure Candidates: Offense

Tavierre Dunlap

With the onslaught of transfer portal entries in college football, it’s inevitable that Michigan will face some more departures this off-season. Three players have already announced their intentions to transfer, and one (Cade McNamara to Iowa) has already found a landing spot. Tight ends Erick All and Louis Hansen are both headed for, ahem, greener pastures.

McNamara and All are both somewhat unique cases of players who played a lot but felt slighted in some way, but Hansen is a more typical case of a player buried on the depth chart who wants to see some light at the end of the tunnel. This post explores several players in similar situations who may find greener pastures elsewhere:

DISCLAIMER: This post is speculative in nature and not intended to encourage/discourage any player from leaving Michigan’s program. The reality is that college football is now a lot like unrestricted free agency from year to year.

RB TAVIERRE DUNLAP
Why he should stay: Every Michigan starting running back during his tenure has turned in a 1,000+ yard season, but they had to wait three or more years to do it. Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum have both turned in star performances after waiting their turn. Dunlap has done well when given a chance, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Why he might leave: Opportunities are limited when you’re the third string back or lower, and there’s no reason to expect much of a change in scenery for 2023. While Corum is likely headed to the NFL, Donovan Edwards is a bona fide star in the making and freshman C.J. Stokes already has many more carries (55) in one season than Dunlap has in two (16), and walk-on Isaiah Gash (19 carries, 101 yards, 2 touchdowns) even topped Dunlap in touches. When it came to the Big Ten championship game and Ohio State, Michigan decided to use a big back at times . . . but that back was the 6’2″, 232 lb. backup linebacker Kalel Mullings instead of Dunlap (6’0″, 217).

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8Oct 2022
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Michigan 31, Indiana 10

Blake Corum (image via MLive)

I hope Mike Hart is okay. It was reported that Mike Hart suffered a seizure on the sideline. I don’t know how much Hart’s medical situation affected the team on the field, but running back Donovan Edwards clearly seemed to be emotional and seemed to be on a knee next to Hart while the medical crew was attending to him. The TV crew also reported that a Michigan spokesperson said Hart had no history of similar events. Regardless, I hope this is a one-time thing and that Hart recovers quickly.

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19Aug 2022
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2022 Season Countdown: #23 A.J. Henning

A.J. Henning (image via Twitter)

Name: A.J. Henning
Height: 
5’10”
Weight: 
185 lbs.
High school: 
Frankfort (IL) Lincoln-Way East
Position: 
Wide receiver
Class: 
Junior
Jersey number: 
#3
Last year: 
I ranked Henning #23 and said he would be a backup wide receiver and starting kick returner with 14 catches for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 10 passes for 79 yards and ran 9 times for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns.
TTB Rating:
 86

Henning had a chance to step up in 2021 after speedy gadget guy Giles Jackson transferred to Washington prior to the season. And Henning didn’t miss a beat. While he didn’t establish himself as a versatile receiver, he became the end around guy and scored on a 74-yard touchdown run in the first game. He also added a kickoff return for a touchdown against Maryland and a touchdown run against Ohio State. Henning also stepped in to replace injured punt returner Ronnie Bell after the coaches initially tried Caden Kolesar in Bell’s stead.

I expect more of the same from Henning in 2022. There’s no reason to expect fewer end arounds or jet sweeps, and his share of the passing targets probably can’t get much smaller. There’s also a good chance that he ends up handling punt returns and/or kickoff returns. I will be interested to see if Bell takes punt return duties back or if that experiment has ended. Overall, Henning can do a little bit of everything – rushing, receiving, punt returning, and kickoff returning – but if he’s not available for some reason, I think there are other guys who can absorb his role without a huge dropoff.

Prediction: Starting kickoff and punt returner, backup wide receiver

13Oct 2021
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2021 Michigan vs. Nebraska Awards

Daxton Hill (image via ClickOnDetroit)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . A.J. Henning. Henning, who is athletic enough to be Michigan’s punt returner, had 0 offensive touches against Nebraska and has 0 catches for the past three weeks.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . backup offensive guards. Michigan played five offensive guards due to injuries. The offensive guard position has been a relative weakness for Michigan this year, but nobody is good when they get down to guard #5. I’ve seen worse problems at guard #3 or #4, so this isn’t a glaring weakness, but it would be nice to have some consistency and for somebody to step up and take over both guard positions.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . nobody.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . nobody.

Play of the game . . . Brad Hawkins’s forced and recovered fumble against Adrian Martinez. Late in a tied game, Nebraska had the ball and had a chance to drive down the field for a score. Star quarterback Adrian Martinez took off on a rush attempt, and while trying to fight for a first down, he was held up by a couple Michigan defenders. Despite his claims that he was “just standing there” and thought the play was over, he was fighting for extra yardage and driving his feet forward. The whistle wasn’t blown, and Hawkins ripped the ball out. That turned into the game-winning field goal for the Wolverines.

MVP of the game . . . Aidan Hutchinson, Daxton Hill, and Hassan Haskins. Triple H. Hutchinson made 6 tackles and helped keep Martinez in check. Hill made 5 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, and 1 interception, playing solid in coverage and making that 1 ridiculously nice pick. Meanwhile, Haskins churned out yards with 21 carries for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a highlight-reel hurdle over a defender and tons of yards after contact.