# HENDO 4 HEISMAN 2026
I run the streets all night and day
- Slim Thug, musician
While lost in thought the other day, I found myself wondering which of the 137 current FBS programs had yet to have a single player featured in this publication. To my surprise, the list was longer than I expected, thanks in part to the wave of programs that have joined the FBS over the past three seasons.
One program that stood out was UTSA. Despite being an established FBS member since 2013, the Roadrunners have somehow gone unrepresented on this publication. That was hard to believe, considering how many CFF-relevant players they've produced since 2023, when I first started writing here.
I suppose I've always included UTSA players in my position rankings, but I've never come across one I liked enough—or found intriguing enough—to dedicate an entire write-up to.
That changes today.
Indeed, I couldn’t help but notice when looking across the industry that UTSA’s Will “I RUN” Henderson, though highly rated by all, has not really been discussed much this offseason. I suppose that is partly my fault.
In fact, I may be the president of the Hendo fan club. At the moment, I believe I’m the only analyst with him ranked inside my top eight running backs.
To be clear, I share some of the same concerns as everyone else—and we’ll get to those shortly. But what Henderson put on tape last season impressed me, and he’s now paired with a head coach who has a proven track record of producing highly productive fantasy running backs.
With that in mind, let’s start by taking a closer look at the coaching staff.
COACHING & SYSTEM
RB1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 13.6 — OC: 9.6 (full ppr)
Head coach Jeff Traylor has a unique background in that he took on his first play calling role in his current position during the COVID season of 2020. Prior to that he spent time as the associate head coach and RBs coach at Arkansas (2018-19), SMU (2017), and the special teams coordinator and TEs coach at Texas (2015-16).
His OC, Rick Bowie, is a recent promotion to the FBS. Prior to joining UTSA this offseason, he was the OC at WKU for a year (2025), following three successful seasons as an OC at the FCS level (Valdosta State, 2022-23, Abilene Christian, 2024). He previously served stints with Houston (WRs coach), and WVU (grad assistant).
I’ll note that Valdosta State’s Jamar Thompkins also caught 13 passes for 158 yards and a score in 2022, bringing his total touches to 148 over 11 games, which is just shy of 14 touches per game.
2023 Valdosta State was basically a two-headed backfield — Isaiah Flowers (417 net yards) narrowly edged Eric Watts (416 net yards), so that "RB1" title is razor-thin.
Sam Hicks in 2024 is the lone bright spot within Bowie’s inventory of former RB1s thus far. His work in his first season at the FBS level with WKU left much to be desired within the context of this article.
Head coach Traylor is more so the star of the show here as far as we’re concerned regarding Henderson.
His first two seasons with Sincere McCormick were very strong, with back-to-back 22 carry/game averages and over 240 carries sent to his RB1 per season.
Things tailed off dramatically the following two seasons, where Kevorian Barnes (who eventually became somewhat of a pig at TCU this past season), saw considerably fewer carries than his predecessor, and the PPG average suffered accordingly.
Robert Henry’s time as RB1 with UTSA is a bit more complicated and demands some unpacking for the reader’s context. While he finished as the overall RB1 for 2024, he didn’t really take over in that role until mid-October. He finished the season with back-to-back 160+ yard and two TD performances, potentially hinting at a nuclear pig in waiting for 2025.
And if you were playing CFF last year, you know that in September it looked like Henry might finish as the literal CFF player one, or at least, the RB1 for 2025. Injuries behind the scenes apparently piled up and his performance dropped off starting in October.
So while the plan from the staff was clear and obvious this past season, the RB1 in this instance could not sustain the workload for the entire season.
Traylor typically deploys a balanced approach on offence, with a historical average of a 48/52 split in favour of run plays. His RB1 carry share was enormous with Sincere McCormick (over 50%), but has since dropped. Again, I believe if Henry stays healthy for most of 2026, he would have seen a similar total workload that McCormick saw in his two seasons.
WILL “Slim Thug” HENDERSON (5’10, 185)
2025 RUSHING STATS: 125-866-6 (12.8)
Given what we just discussed, you’re probably looking at his listed dimensions (as well as his build in the photos provided) and thinking: well if injury was a problem for Henry last year, it almost certainly is going to be a problem again for Hendo.
You would not be wrong in this skepticism. On an interview with the gents over at the G5 Hive, the UTSA writer stated that while Henderson looks to be the undisputed RB1, he doesn’t see him as a 20-carry per game player due to his build.
It would not surprise me if that ends up being the case. However, when we look at how Henderson finished the year (particularly when Henry was out with injury), we see games of 20 (UNCC), 21 (ECU) and 15 (FIU) total touches when combined with receiving usage. In those games he had 19, 19, and 14 carries, respectively.
It should be noted that the game against FIU was a bowl game and was a complete blowout, where Henderson scored three TDs (one of them a long catch and run) on only 15 touches.
Receiving usage is an important consideration with this player in my opinion, given that (I believe) he ran track for UTSA, he is a smaller player, and, from the limited action I saw, is probably one of the fastest RBs in CFB.
Even still, those carry numbers are nothing to sneeze at. In fact, a steady diet of that all year in 2026 would work just fine in the mind of this writer. The question will be: can he sustain that workload over a 12-game period?
The man himself mentioned in a post-spring interview that he is focused on eating more this offseason in order to bulk up. I’m not so sure I like his answer there, given that he mentioned that the method of choice in doing so was predominantly “snacks”, which sounds like it’d be bad weight being put on but what do I know.
Nonetheless, I don’t expect a 185 pound Hendo to suit up for UTSA in game one. I’d imagine he’ll be closer to 190-195 by game time this fall.
He is also a long and wiry looking player on the field, sort of Lamar Jackson-esque, which I’m not sure if that’ll be helpful or harmful with respect to his durability this upcoming fall.
Behind him are two main competitors for touches: Brandon High and former USC player A’Marion Peterson. Given what the writer on the G5 Hive interview mentioned, I would expect one or both of these players to see a lot of carries as well this fall. But given that neither is particularly explosive, or has demonstrated advanced receiving ability, I don’t see them challenging Henderson for the role he occupies within the offence.
The Roadrunners open up against a lower division opponent in week one, and play only one P4 opponent (Texas, week three), so they do have a favourable schedule this fall.
Those who know me intimately know that I’m not usually one to hitch myself to RBs who aren’t potential 20-carry per game gangsters, but Henderson’s explosiveness and speed gives me enough reason to believe he can be highly productive with a, shall we say, “pig-light” workload in 2026 as the UTSA writer predicted. ◾
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