Derrick Henry running his way into the first round

Nov 7, 2015; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Derrick Henry (2) runs the ball while defended by LSU Tigers linebacker Duke Riley (40) during the third quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama won 30-16. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Going into Saturday night, Alabama running back Derrick Henry was in the second round on most draft boards. Looking at his vision, patience, burst, long speed power and agility, I’ve been looking for a reason to put him in the first round. And on separation Saturday, I got all the reason I needed to elevate him.

There are no more little Tennessee States on the schedule to run up those big statistics on. It’s SEC on SEC and in Henry’s case, he had a tough conference matchup to deal with against LSU. And deal with it he did to the tune of 210 yards and 3 TDs on 38 bone-wearying carries against the nation’s No. 5 run-defense.

And he did it in the old-school, classic way that featured, bell-cow running backs have always done it in. At the beginning of the game, he really didn’t get anywhere but he kept chipping away at the defense. And has the game went on, he wore LSU’s defense out and started getting yards in chunks.

He showed amazing conditioning in the game and I don’t just mean his ability to carry the ball 38 times. After he broke one for 40 yards, he stayed in the game and took it in for a 2-yards TD. His 210-yard night actually put him ahead of Ohio States Ezekiel Elliott, who ran for 114 yards on his night, by 10 yards.

And in my book, it puts him ahead of Elliott as a running back prospect too.