Texas A&M Football: Season Rewind - Zaycoven Henderson

Texas A&M football junior Zaycoven Henderson was a central piece of an up and down defensive tackle group in the 2016 season.

Stats

Zaycoven Henderson started all twelve games ahead of a very talented sophomore, Daylon Mack. Henderson’s 38 tackles were the most by an Aggie defense lineman and his 9.0 tackles for a loss ranked fourth on the team. He forced two fumbles and recovered one of them. His strip sack against Ole Miss was a thing of beauty.

Recap

The entirety of the interior defensive line seemed to get more porous as the season wore on. The Aggies opened the season by holding UCLA to 125 yards rushing. They ended the season allowing 298 yards rushing to LSU.

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Those are two completely different offenses, but the the trend was noticeable throughout the year. Opposing teams would hand the ball off and run straight up the gut. More often than not they found success.

In passing situations Henderson, and the rest of the defensive line for that matter, fared much better. Even playing from the interior of the line he was able to find ways to get to the quarterback and disrupt throws. He might not be Myles Garrett, but he is a consistent above average defender with a great football IQ.

Looking Ahead

Henderson will most likely be back in Aggieland next season. He will continue rotating at the defensive tackle spot. The odds of him entering the draft at this point seem slim.

He surprised many Aggie fans by winning the starting job in 2016. That would make it seem that the coaches like what they see when Henderson is on the field. There might not be that same upside to Henderson that some of the younger guys possess, but he’s a steady force on the defensive line for Texas A&M. That’s a huge boost for a young team.

***Sources 247sports, Sports-Reference.com***