Daiyan (Day-on) Henley, Washington State, Linebacker:
- 6’0 ft
- 225 lbs
- 4.54 40-yd
- 1.58 10-yd
- 265 Tkls (Career)
- 15.5 TFLs (Career)
- 4.0 Sacks (Career)
- 2022 First Team All-Pac-12 (Led team in: Tkls, TFLs, FFs)
Henley was recruited to Nevada (where he spent his first 4 years in college) as a wide receiver and nickel corner before putting on 40 lbs and converting to linebacker in 2020.
Henley is a rangy, athletic, and aggressive off-ball linebacker who flies around the field and was able to make a ton of plays for the Cougars in his time at Washington State. He’s an impressive blitzer with very crisp footwork. He wraps up very well and has notable tackling technique that will make his NFL transition much easier. Instinctively, he reads an offense very well — It seems to come very naturally, along with taking good pursuit angles specifically while still in the box.
He does tend to hesitate in pass coverage and over-commit when stuffing the run. He will sometimes lose his base in the open field allowing for a quick juke or just a straight up out running. Will sometimes be forced to play ‘catch-up’ while in pass coverage due to latent hip movement. He causes disruption, but sometimes can’t complete the play because of an over-commitment — Leaving for play extension (See film vs. USC).
Overall, Henley is a very physically impressive athlete that will make a plethora of plays for the defense that selects him, but will need the help of NFL coaching to assist in the growth of his game. There are plenty mental hiccups scattered throughout his film which will need to be cleaned up. Henley will serve as a day-one starter in the NFL
Projection: 2nd Round.
