First Impressions of Texans OT LaDarius Henderson

Who is Houston’s final selection of the 2024 NFL Draft?

With the 249th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans use their final selection of the night on:

LaDarius Henderson, OT – Michigan

Measurables:

• Height: 6’ 4”
• Weight: 309 lbs.
• Arm: 35”
• Hand: 10 5/8”
• 20-Yard Shuttle: 4.72 seconds
• NFL-NGS Score: 5.64: candidate for bottom of roster or practice squad

Awards:

• CFP National Champion, 2023
• First-team All-Big-Ten, 2023

---

Throughout his five-year collegiate career, four spent in Arizona State and one spent in Michigan, LaDarius Henderson was a reliable, if inconsistent run-blocking lineman. Henderson is a long, imposing lineman that will invite questions of his potential in the NFL, reaching his peak with Arizona as a run-blocking lineman in 2021 and with Michigan in 2023. He possesses the physical traits to look like a potential starting/backup lineman, but he was protected by Michigan’s run-heavy scheme. As Bleacher Report’s Scouting Department states:

He did his best work using jump sets against tight alignments, where he could close space right away and blot them out. On the few dropback passing situations he had per game, he regularly overset, was late redirecting and lacked the range to protect the corner.

It seems unanimously agreed upon that he does his best work in run-blocking, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s got enough strength and motor to be a real menace in the interior, which is exactly what Houston needs. Now, he isn’t knocking defensive tackles on their back every game, but there’s enough size and strength here that I don’t blame general manager Nick Caserio for wanting to take a flyer on him. It was only just last year the Texans used their 201st pick on center Jarrett Patterson from Notre Dame, who vastly over-performed expectations and became Houston’s starting center (due to injuries) for the first half of the 2023 season. Sometimes, these lowly-drafted linemen end up becoming far more valuable than you could expect.

With his impressive size and run-blocking acumen, Ladarius Henderson can compete to be a backup interior lineman, likely to enter a training camp battle with Jarrett Patterson and/or Jimmy Morrissey. It’s anyone’s guess who’s going to win that battle, but Henderson provides the competition a good team needs.

And that’s the Houston Texans’ final pick of the 2024 NFL Draft! Now – what do we make of this Draft? To me, this was a largely fulfilling draft. I’m a bit disappointed that it took until the seventh round for the Texans to address their defensive tackle situation, but I think they successfully invested in the defensive backfield, at tight end, and along the offensive line. These three positions were what I believed to be some of their biggest needs, and I’m excited to see the potential of of these new Texans, especially Blake Fisher, Caden Bullock, Cade Stover, and Marcus Harris.

Hopefully, these nine players will be enough to get Houston over the hump and into the hall of champions. But, only time will tell – and what are your thoughts on Houston’s 2024 Draft Class? Is this Houston’s next great class that will go down in history, but the worst of all-time? Let us know down in the comments below!

Until next year!