Alex Henery - The Skinny Assassin

6 comments so far November 23, 2009 by Darren K. Carlson

Ndamukong Suh is an award candidate, and All-American, and a real war daddy. And, make no mistake, that I admire Roy Helu Jr. But, with apologies to Jared Crick, Larry Asante and others...Nebraska's next best player weighs about 190 pounds dripping wet. Alex Henery is an absolute stud. He makes the big kicks to win games and in his first year as a full-time punter, he was a difference maker in Nebraska's North-Division clinching win over Kansas State. For his efforts, he was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, and is quite likely the All-Conference kicker. But, in my mind, he's earned the title - skinny assassin.

By the Numbers
As a kicker, Henery is eerie accurate. This year, he's perfect on PATs. He is 16 for 19 on field goals this season. Last season he went 56 of 57 on PATs and 18 for 21 on field goals. So far this year, he's missed just one kick that was less than 50 yards. That's just straight getting it done.

In is first year pulling double duty and handling NU's punting duties, he's also doing well. He's averaging 45.5 yards per punt. He leads the Big 12 with punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Now, he's earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors as both a kicker and a punter. Fans can't ask for much more.

He Makes the Plays That Win the Game
Beyond just his consistency, Henery is clutch. With one very rare exception this season, he has made the big kicks Nebraska needs. When you have an offense that has, frankly, struggled, fans celebrate almost any time they generate points. Sure, it would be better not to have to "settle' for 3 points. But, it would be profoundly worse for those Nebraska drives to come up hollow with no points at all. So, you could say that nearly every kick Henery makes is a "big" or "pressure" kick.

Speaking of pressure kicks, it is Colorado week. So, you might recall one especially gratifying Alex Henery kick. Take a moment and feast on history once again.

As a punter, he make big pressure punts too. I'm not talking about defenders bearing down on him. I'm talking about KSU's Brandon Banks. He neutralized the Big 12's best punt returner when the Husker's needed it the most. His two punts inside the KSU 5 yard line both bounced nicely out of bounds, keeping it away from Banks and putting the Cats behind the proverbial eight ball. Other than the Huskers' third quarter touchdown and Larry Asante's touchdown saving hit, those were the two biggest plays in the game. They helped win the game. Let that sink in. Henery - the punter - helped win the game.

One Minute You're Fine. The Next...
I call Henery the skinny assassin because opponents never really see it coming. It's like a knife thrown in to their heart. One minute, their fine. The next, they are on the ground. One moment, they are in the lead or in the game. The next, they are watching a 47 or even 57 yarder go through the uprights. One minute, they are getting set to get the ball back in good field position. The next, they see a missile fly off of Henery's foot only to bounce and then dart out of bounds at the five yard line.

The results can do both real mental damage to an opponent. It's sudden, simple and brutal. You never see it coming from a guy about as big as a toothpick. Alex Henery is NU's skinny assassin.

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