Minnesota Football Recruiting: CB-Tyrik Henderson Commits to the Gophers

(*Editor's note...What the heck does "Commitment to Eight" mean? It is our new recurring title for recruit commitments referencing a commitment to work towards the Gopher's Eighth National Championship.)

On April 19th, Tyrik Henderson gave his verbal pledge to Coach Fleck and the Gophers. A 3-star corner from the suburbs of Chicago was at the heart of a head to head recruiting battle between Iowa and Minnesota and last week he chose to row the boat.

The top rated corner in the state of Illinois and #5 in the Midwest, Henderson bring his cover skills to Dinkytown in 2018.

Quotables

Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated ($cout).

Gophers defensive coordinator Robb Smith was down in Illinois yesterday and saw Henderson workout live and source tells me he was extremely impressed. Minnesota put on the full court in the last 24 hours to try and prevent him from heading to Iowa this weekend, and it looks like it worked.

Minnesota now has three corners rated in the top 50 in the country in Henderson, Smith and Sapp. I'll see Henderson in person this weekend at the UA camp as well.

Scout’s Allen Trieu analsys

Henderson has excellent quickness. He has very natural feet and change of direction. He has loose hips, and is able to turn and run with receivers. He has the speed to do that. He is a natural and instinctive playmaker with good ball skills. He is not a big guy. He is on the light side weight wise right now. Despite that, he has shown the ability to play up on the line of scrimmage because of his technique and aggressiveness, although he will have to get stronger in college.

Measurables

Height: 5’ 11"
Weight: 170 lbs.

Big 4 Ratings:

Power 5 Offers - Iowa, Boston College, Indiana, Iowa State, Missouri, Purdue, Syracuse

• Scout - 3 stars
• Rivals - 3 stars (5.7 rating)
• 247 - 3 stars (84 rating)
• ESPN - n/a

Junior year highlights:

TDG Analysis

In Two Words - if you have to remember just two things about this player...

• Smooth
• Quick (though not overly fast)

Absurd Comparisons

Actually reminds me a lot of Demetrius Douglas, if I’m allowed to compare him to a player who hasn’t yet played a down for the Gophers. But in terms of size, foot quickness and smoothness...the film of these two is fairly similar.

Scheme Fit

I really like how Henderson changes direction and moves his feet to get set when he’s about to hit a guy. Very quick and I think the technical aspect of playing the position is not going to be a real challenge for this kid. Potentially playing early in his career on the inside.

Impact on Other Prospects?

Third corner in this class already, but it is still too early to declare that any position is set. The other two corners are 6’ or taller, making Henderson the shortest of the three.

Recruiting Map