Hunter Henry vs. the Greatest Receivers in Razorbacks History

The offensive side of the ball is no stranger to great playmakers who have worn the Razorback helmet over the decades. Scintillating talents like Lance Alworth, Matt Jones and Joe Adams come to mind. Yet, of all the legends who have earned permanent skybox seat licensure in Hog Heaven, only two became two-time first-team All-Americans: tailback Darren McFadden and receiver Chuck Dicus.

Arkansas junior Hunter Henry has a chance to join them next year.

Henry already accomplished the first part this past week when he was chosen as a first-team All-American by USA Today, the Associated Press and the Walter Camp Foundation.  The second part depends on whether the almost-certain high NFL draft pick goes pro in the spring of 2016 or spring of 2017. “I can certainly see where it might be in his best interest if he chose to leave and go to the pros,” Dicus says. “However, I can make the same argument the other way. Peyton Manning chose to stay. I think that it’d be hard to argue his success.”

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Henry has steadily improved alongside his team these past three seasons in Fayetteville. As the Hogs have won more games in each season since 2014, Henry’s receptions have tracked upward, going from 28 receptions as a freshman, to 37 catches as a sophomore to 47 so far this year.

Although Henry caught one less touchdown (3) than he did as a freshman (4), 2015 has still been a great season by any means. Let’s look to see how it stacks up against some of the greatest Hogfathers in history. Below are some of Henry’s 2015 statistics compared to other Razorback receivers and tight ends who earned All-American honors. (Not included are rushing stats, or any kind of passing stats which might or might not derive from instantly classic laterals stylishly commemorated on Hanes 5180 Tagless Beefy Tees)

All-American Razorback Receivers/Tight Ends

*Boldface denotes a first-team All-American selection.

As you can see, Henry’s season is around the middle of the pack as far as yardage output goes. Cobi Hamilton, of course, stands out as the leader here because during his senior season the entire proverbial barn was burning and his dynamic abilities often served as just about the only path out.

Next we see Jim Benton, the old-time legend who starred for the “Passing Porkers” of the late 1930s. Benton’s greater claim to fame, though, was becoming the Randy Moss of his day. He shattered almost every NFL receiving record alongside fellow Arkansan Don Hutson.

Interestingly, the other ultra-successful pro receiver on this list was the least impressive on this list. Many observers consider Lance Alworth to have been the best pro receiver of the 1960s, setting a record that to this day only Calvin Johnson has matched (5 career games of 200 receiving yards or more).

Head coach Frank Broyles deployed Alworth as an all-purpose back and flanker in a variety of ways. Alworth actually rushed for more yards in each of his seasons at Arkansas, tallying 531 rushing yards in 1961.

Of course, this was a very different, more ground-based era.  For a truer sense of what Alworth meant to his team, look at the below graph.

Here, we see how much each Razorback great was leaned on for production in the passing game relative to his teammates:

We don’t have team passing yards for Schoonover and Benton, but I feel confident at least one of these guys pushes Cobi Hamilton out of the top three by having been at least 37% responsible for his team’s passing output. As prodigious as Hamilton’s performances were, and as much as the 2012 Hogs offense depended on him, he still appears less critical to his team’s passing game as those guys in the 1960s.

Henry was never going to rank that high on this list because his position by its nature keeps a lid on the number of catches he may make in a given game. Plus, Henry has a very capable backup in teammate Jeremy Sprinkle who takes away passing yards Henry might have otherwise have had.

Yet, Henry’s influence should not be underestimated. Without the attention he drew from defenses all year long, receivers like Drew Morgan and Dominique Reed would not have been able to emerge like they have. Offensive coordinator Dan Enos deserves credit for more successfully employing Henry as a decoy with each passing month of the season. Indeed, with the exception of Bobby Petrino, no Arkansas coach has ever proven so adept at pass play calling.

If Enos and Henry stick together one more year, this will become more obvious.  If so, Darren McFadden’s and Chuck Dicus’ exclusive back-to-back All-American party of two had better make space for a third.

Evin Demirel writes about Arkansas football and history for the likes of WholeHogSports.com, OnlyInArk.com and the Daily Beast. At his blog BestOfArkansasSport.com, he delves into why Hunter Henry’s high school coach believes he’s cut out of the Jason Witten/Rob Gronkowski mold.

Legend

GR – Grantland Rice

TSN – The Sporting News

NANA – North American Newspaper Alliance

FWAA – Football Writers Association of America

AFCA – American Football Coaches Association

WCF – Walter Camp Foundation

AP – Associated Press

NYS – New York Sun

PFW – Pro Football Weekly

PS – Phil Steele College Football

 *Lucas was actually more dominant, though less decorated, in his junior season. He grabbed 43 catches for more than 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns.

NB: Wingback Clyde Scott was a fantastically versatile superstar for the Hogs in the late 1940s who deserves mention when it comes to the program’s all-time great playmakers. In his first season, he caught 11 catches for 183 yards, according to Jim Rasco, a researcher for the Little Rock Touchdown Club.

Scott became much more of a passing and running threat in his following two seasons, though. In 1948 the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association named him a first-team All-American.