Alex

Henery

After a somewhat slow start to the season, Henery has shown the form that made him a fourth-round pick in the draft. He hasn’t missed since Week 4 and hit a 51-yarder in Week 16. Henery projects as a top-10 fantasy kicking option in 2012.

Henery has no reason not to be confident. Over the final 12 games of last season, he went 16-for-16 on field goals. The second-year man is a strong fantasy kicking option in the Eagles’ potentially explosive offense.

April is working with Henery this week, but there’s no real concern about a loss of confidence. “He was dying to kick the winning field goal,” said April, “and that looked really genuine to me. That sounded, looked, unless he’s a [heck] of an actor, he had every intention of kicking the winning field goal.”

Kelly has a reputation for being a riverboat gambler that often eschews field goals on fourth down. “I think there’s fallacy and reality,” he said. “If you don’t have a guy that can kick a long field goal, what are you going to do when the ball is on the 37-yard line?” Eagles kicker Alex Henery went 11-of-13 from 40-plus yards out last year. We still wouldn’t be surprised if Kelly’s fourth-down aggressiveness costs Henery a handful of field goal chances.

All three of Henery’s misses were from 40-49 yards out, leaving him at 2-of-5 from that range on the season. He’s going to get opportunities as part of the Eagles’ fastbreak offense, but fantasy owners may want to put him on the shelf until he regains some confidence. Chargers K Nick Novak is a worthwhile plug-n-play this week as he’ll be facing Oakland.

Henery missed a 48-yard attempt and his kickoffs consistently sailed too low -- leading to a 39-yard return that set up the Saints’ game-winning field goal as time expired. It’s been a problem all year, as Henery couldn’t even kick the ball out of the end zone in Minnesota’s dome and he went just 23-of-28 on field goals. He should face competition in camp as he enters the final year of his contract in 2014.

The Eagles signed Vanderbilt’s Carey Spear, aka “Murderleg,” as an UDFA. Henery connected on just 82.1 percent of his field goals last season, tied for 22nd in the league. He also struggled to kick the ball out of the end zone on kickoffs.

Henery is on thin ice in Philly, as evidenced by last week’s trade for Cody Parkey. The incumbent remains the favorite, but we’d look for a kicker carrying more confidence into Week 1 for our fantasy roster.

Henery, who is facing competition in camp for the first time in his career, missed a 47-yarder in Friday’s preseason game against the Bears. But UDFA Carey Spear aka “Murderleg” isn’t a threat yet. “We need to get Alex as much work as he can possibly get,” Kelly said. “It’s clear in our mind that Alex is number one over Carey.” The coach added that Henery has missed only two kicks in competitive situations during camp, going 5-of-5 from 50+ and 8-of-8 from 45-to-49 yards.

Henery has a weak leg and was just 1-of-3 on field goals this preseason, while producing just eight touchbacks on 17 kickoffs. He lost out to UDFA Cody Parkey, who has a booming leg and was acquired from the Colts this week.