Emmanuel Henderson is ready to find his niche for Alabama football this season.
And the new system brought in by Kalen DeBoer might be the perfect opportunity for him to do so.
“I love the new offense,” Henderson said to the media on Friday. “It’s a lot of throwing plays, and you know I’m a receiver now, so that’s a great thing. I love the new schemes we have. We are just going to keep building on that.”
Henderson first joined the Crimson Tide in the 2021 season as a five-star recruit out of Geneva County High School in Hartford, Alabama. Despite originally coming in as a running back, Henderson switched to the wide receiver role along with seeing a lot of time on special teams. He spent the first part of the 2023 season recovering from injury but saw time in eight games.
The new pass-heavy system brought in by DeBoer, Henderson said, took some time for the junior to catch on. Coming into spring practice, Henderson said he was focusing on working on his hand techniques and his route details. Now, he said, he has most of the details down as Alabama is approaching its final week of spring practice.
“The transition, I don’t want to say it was easy, I had to put a lot of time and work in especially with the route running,” Henderson said. “But I got most of the details down now. I’m just leading by example for the younger guys. I am making sure I am doing all the right things so they can follow in my footsteps.”
Henderson is part of a wide receiver room for Alabama that returns experience in Kendrick Law, Kobe Prentice and Germie Bernard, who transferred to Alabama from Washington. Jalen Hale is also returning for the Crimson Tide, but he suffered a knee injury in spring practice and is unsure when he will be able to return.
Alabama is just over a week away from its annual A-Day game on April 13 at Bryant-Denny Stadium at 3 p.m., where fans will get their first chance to see Henderson and the new Alabama offense.
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Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football: Emmauel Henderson talks new offense, his role on team
