Bye: ‘Organizational failure’ on Broncos if Carlos Henderson flops

If former third-round pick Carlos Henderson doesn’t find his way onto the football field for the Denver Broncos this season, it will be an “organizational failure” for the club, “Stokley and Zach” host Zach Bye said on Monday.

Henderson’s athleticism and raw ability had Bye excited when the Broncos took the wide receiver in the third-round of the 2017 NFL Draft, calling him on Tuesday “one of the five best thoroughbred, raw athletes on the Denver Broncos roster.”

The Louisiana Tech prospect ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds, put up 13 bench press reps, had a 36.0-inch vertical, and ran a 7.10-second cone drill at the NFL Combine.

And in his final year at La. Tech, Henderson caught 82 passes for 1,535 yards and 19 touchdowns and earned Conference USA offensive and special teams player of the year honors.

“To put it in perspective, that’s about 200 yards less than Courtland Sutton’s and DaeSean Hamilton’s junior years combined,” Bye said. “This guy, Carlos Henderson, had more touchdowns in his junior season than DaeSean Hamilton had in his career.”

So, the Broncos invested a third-round pick in Henderson.

“And, for whatever reason, he could not get up to speed,” Bye said.

Injuries would shut down Henderson’s rookie season, and they have also hampered his offseason thus far as well, to the point of rumblings he may be a camp casualty.

“He needs to get things figured out,” said Bye’s co-host Brandon Stokley on Tuesday.

“He needs to realize this is the NFL. You’ve got to be a grown man. You’ve got to handle your responsibilities. You’ve got to know the playbook. You have to be on the field. You have to be available. You can’t be injured.

“And when you get opportunities, you have to take advantage of them. Because this train doesn’t stop moving. What happened this year? Well, we drafted two more receivers.”

But Bye, recalling a conversation with Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead at the Senior Bowl, said, “You have to have a plan for that particular player. You have to have patience with that particular player, especially when he’s coming from a different style of play.”

“(Snead) used two ‘p’ words: a plan and patience,” Bye said. “Here we are a year after (Henderson’s) been drafted talking about him being a potential camp cut. This guy is a dynamic athlete, and the Broncos have invested in him.

“They have to find a way for him to work in one way or another.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.