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AJ Henning

Leggo24

Well-Known Member
Oct 6, 2018
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took A LOT of snaps as the quarterback today at practice. The other 5 qbs all looked very average at best. Should be interesting to see what LWE decides to do. I’m not super familiar with them but they had a defender that wore #8 at practice that was large, athletic, full of energy, and a leader. Any word on him? Grade ?
 
AJ took snaps? If so...holy smokes. Id’ put the Ball in his hands as much as possible. Lots of draws, wildcat, etc
 
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Henning @ Wildcat QB in a couple packages makes perfect sense in terms of getting the ball in his hands more directly and giving the defense something else for which to prep. Seeing a steady diet of him running downhill between the tackles would probably be a duty left to another offensive backfielder. Getting him toward an edge with a sideline to run to as an option would be a protective strategy during the long haul of the season.
 
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MS4Ever,

Honestly if he takes every snap I’m afraid he doesn’t make the whole season intact. He’s a tough kid and all, but that’s a lot of punishment to take over several hundred snaps. I suppose the good thing is he’s not playing Ironman football!

Damn Jwar! Exactly my thoughts. Not sure if his body can handle that abuse. Good luck to East.
 
This smacks of people trying to tear down a highly ranked student athlete.

Would you do the same if he played fri Loyola or Naz? I doubt it
 
He was throwing it quite a bit. LWE has like 5 quarterbacks in red jerseys, all undersized #2 looked like the leader
 
LWE Dad,

I admittedly dislike your oft, woe is me attitude, but this concern has nothing to do with tearing down anyone but is rather from my heart as a parent and fan. I believe the kid had a huge target on his back to start with and adding the role of taking every snap on offense makes that target that much larger.

As you know I am a Naz fan and past parent and if my kid was asked to play the role of Wildcat for a season(not a game), you better believe I’d be concerned and apprehensive at best.

This smacks of people trying to tear down a highly ranked student athlete.

Would you do the same if he played fri Loyola or Naz? I doubt it
 
Jwar there is no reason this would be a strictly wildcat situation with AJ. Not that long ago a certain option type QB had a pretty awesome year at the Griffins helm. You may remember Tom Fuessel who played a pretty stellar 13.5 games until a late hit put an end to his injury free run. I think Frankfort fans would love to see AJ Henning NOT taking direct snaps however that decision will be the LWE coaching staffs to make. The one thing that stands out with the staff over the years is their ability to modify and adapt to the available talent season to season. Good luck and safety to all teams as the season winds up this weekend! Christmas is days away fans.
 
If a kid who is one of the top players in the country can’t handle 20-25 carries a game in high school he should fold it up since isn’t going to make it in the Big 10.
 
LWE Dad,

I admittedly dislike your oft, woe is me attitude, but this concern has nothing to do with tearing down anyone but is rather from my heart as a parent and fan. I believe the kid had a huge target on his back to start with and adding the role of taking every snap on offense makes that target that much larger.

As you know I am a Naz fan and past parent and if my kid was asked to play the role of Wildcat for a season(not a game), you better believe I’d be concerned and apprehensive at best.

Naz should only play JJ half the snaps since he has a target on his back right? Every D1 stud has a target on their back and is going to get hit as much as possible it’s just the nature of the game.
 
@LWeastDad If Naz plays JJ out of position and puts him in a tough slot I will be happy to do so. While I’m at it I’ll throw out that our QB in PA will be playing CB for at least the first 4 games this season because the starter had his jaw fractured by a cheap shot in a scrimmage last Saturday against Parkland HS. While the QB is a Sophomore and is likely to be playing at a mid level Power 5 as a CB in the future, I hate the idea of him having to play Ironman as the starting QB. Again this commentary was never a knock against AJ or his talent.

jwarigaku, I don’t particularly care what you think about my so called attitude. I’ll be waiting for a similar posting about your QB.
 
Damn Jwar! Exactly my thoughts. Not sure if his body can handle that abuse. Good luck to East.
AJ is an unbelievable talent but has he come close to finishing a season?!?!
jwarigaku makes a very valid point. Don't think he's tearing down a kid who can literally choose the College he cares to attend.....and have it paid for.
 
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Jwar there is no reason this would be a strictly wildcat situation with AJ. Not that long ago a certain option type QB had a pretty awesome year at the Griffins helm. You may remember Tom Fuessel who played a pretty stellar 13.5 games until a late hit put an end to his injury free run. I think Frankfort fans would love to see AJ Henning NOT taking direct snaps however that decision will be the LWE coaching staffs to make. The one thing that stands out with the staff over the years is their ability to modify and adapt to the available talent season to season. Good luck and safety to all teams as the season winds up this weekend! Christmas is days away fans.
Fuessel also took a beating his SR year. Wasn't he knocked out of the playoffs his SR year? Or Bolingbrook game?
 
Fuessel also took a beating his SR year. Wasn't he knocked out of the playoffs his SR year? Or Bolingbrook game?
Against Glenbard West in the finals he took one of the biggest shots I have ever seen on the sideline as the game was winding down.
He tried to return, but after that hit it was impossible.
LWE will be very strong again this year regardless of who plays QB, but they will likely need to figure out that piece to get over the final hump.
 
This hit was inside one minute to play and I believe inside the 10 yard line...a game saver. The 13.5 games I referenced prior was also in the Glenbard West Championship game but was a very late shot by a backup linebacker of GBW and was in the first half and was flagged. Tom was not the same after that particular play. But...contact happens usually between the lines and within the rules. To not play a stud participant because you anticipate contact would be to negate the game of football.
 
Naz should only play JJ half the snaps since he has a target on his back right? Every D1 stud has a target on their back and is going to get hit as much as possible it’s just the nature of the game.
Stop you sound ridiculous. Playing traditional QB and Wildcat QB are completely different things.
 
You don’t need to remind us MS4EVER. Good luck to your Hawks this season as well.
 
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jwarigaku, I don’t particularly care what you think about my so called attitude. I’ll be waiting for a similar posting about your QB.

You sound a little upset, if you actually read what Jwar said, not once did he take a shot at AJ in any way, shape, or form. He's looking out for a kid who will be playing his first college game 12 months from now. For him to take unneeded punishment when he has already shown that he is very fragile, would just be a dumb move on the coaches part. If AJ was a kid who didn't have a history of constantly being injured it would be a whole different story. Knowing AJ as a kid, I think having him on a pitch count this season would be very beneficial, quality over quantity with a player of his caliper. Get him his touches on the outside, and in space. I hope AJ has a great, healthy year with LWE and hopefully leads them deep into the playoffs.
 
You sound a little upset, if you actually read what Jwar said, not once did he take a shot at AJ in any way, shape, or form. He's looking out for a kid who will be playing his first college game 12 months from now. For him to take unneeded punishment when he has already shown that he is very fragile, would just be a dumb move on the coaches part. If AJ was a kid who didn't have a history of constantly being injured it would be a whole different story. Knowing AJ as a kid, I think having him on a pitch count this season would be very beneficial, quality over quantity with a player of his caliper. Get him his touches on the outside, and in space. I hope AJ has a great, healthy year with LWE and hopefully leads them deep into the playoffs.

No he is either all in all or not, if his injury issues are a concern he shouldn’t be playing this year. What about the kids at LWE that have injuries but aren’t going on to play college should they be put on pitch counts also? Football is violent game you either deal with it or don’t play, their are plenty of other kids on LWE that are sacrificing beside him.
 
No he is either all in all or not, if his injury issues are a concern he shouldn’t be playing this year. What about the kids at LWE that have injuries but aren’t going on to play college should they be put on pitch counts also? Football is violent game you either deal with it or don’t play, their are plenty of other kids on LWE that are sacrificing beside him.

I agree with you 1000% but kids are soft now a days and don't play when they have a boo-boo. And I agree, but these high school kids nowadays are treating their senior season like a college player getting ready for the draft. Its ridiculous. My thing that I was just pointing out is that AJ is the type of kid where if something is sore he will sit out, so if he was getting 30+ touches a game i'm sure by week 4 he'd have some miraculous "injury" and sit out, Which sucks for his teammates like you said who don't have the opportunity to play college ball.
 
I agree with you 1000% but kids are soft now a days and don't play when they have a boo-boo. And I agree, but these high school kids nowadays are treating their senior season like a college player getting ready for the draft. Its ridiculous. My thing that I was just pointing out is that AJ is the type of kid where if something is sore he will sit out, so if he was getting 30+ touches a game i'm sure by week 4 he'd have some miraculous "injury" and sit out, Which sucks for his teammates like you said who don't have the opportunity to play college ball.

630
You seem to know a lot about the kid, border line calling him soft. I agree with Clown baby if he suits up then play him wherever he helps the team. This is a contact sport and your not helping him or the team by treating him differently than any other player. He is a gamer and I am sure he wouldn’t want to be treated differently.
 
I am trying to correlate this to JCA especially some of the great backs we've had and how decisions have to be made based on their overall toughness and durability.

Ty Isaac - You know Ty was going to fumble 1/30 touches and going to be injured (minor) 1/50-60 touches, even more if he's running between the tackles. So you make educated adjustments to get him to the outside more where he he can use his great speed, not run him constantly on counters until he breaks.

JR Zw... (not going to try and spell that) - one of the toughest FB players I've ever seen. We still limited his touches by utilizing other backs to the tune of 1,000+ yards, so as to not wear him out and increase his damage received. He was also very good at LB and DB where he was used sparingly in critical situations, again to keep from wearing him out and minimize damage he received.

Mike Alstott - We all know how tough he was, but we still limited his touches by utilizing other backs, so as to not wear him out and increase his damage received. And Mike probably would have made one incredible LB, but it just didn't make sense to utilize him there, to keep from wearing him out and minimize damage he received.

What I'm saying is: you can't just max out the utilization of your studs with no regard for their chances of getting injured or worn out from over-use.

My 2 cents.
 
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630
You seem to know a lot about the kid, border line calling him soft. I agree with Clown baby if he suits up then play him wherever he helps the team. This is a contact sport and your not helping him or the team by treating him differently than any other player. He is a gamer and I am sure he wouldn’t want to be treated differently.

Well if you miss games year, after year, then yes, you are injury prone (soft). And I agree my whole point is that I feel like with a kid who is a high profile recruit, he is going to look out for his future, instead of trying to win his team a state championship. Do I think that is right? Absolutely not. In my playing days I would have had to have a limb falling off to miss a game. But these kids nowadays aren't wired that way, and I'm sure he has people in his corner who if he gets banged up the slightest bit will tell him to sit and not jeopardize his scholarships, which I think is completely unfair to his teammates when he is the one they are counting on to lead them into a deep playoff run.
 
Key point is the “people in his corner” happen to be the coaches of LWE. This is not their first rodeo 630villain.
 
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