Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry led the NFL in rushing yards last season with 1,540, but his lack of involvement in the passing game continues to hurt his standing among the best players at his position in the eyes of some experts.
Pro Football Focus’ Ben Linsey recently ranked the top-25 running backs in the NFL today, and while Henry did make the top 10, he was outside of the top five, coming in at No. 8.
It is important to note the reasons why Henry slides to eighth on this list, though. First, it’s hard to look past Henry’s lack of impact in the passing game through the first four years of his NFL career. His PFF receiving grade has come in below 50.0 in each of the past three seasons.
Second, Henry hasn’t always been a dominant runner. In fact, Henry’s game didn’t take off this past season until Ryan Tannehill took over at quarterback and the Titans’ offense took a leap forward. With Marcus Mariota at quarterback over the first six weeks of the season, Henry earned just a 67.2 rushing grade while averaging 3.7 yards per carry. It’s another reminder that the situation really matters at the position.
Here’s a look at the seven rushers ahead of him:
- Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers
- Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
- Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
- Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
- Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
- Ezekiel Elliot, Dallas Cowboys
- Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings
It’s kind of puzzling that Chubb would be so high on this list when the person compiling it puts so much stock into passing game production when it comes to ranking Henry.
After all, Chubb had just 72 more receiving yards than Henry in 2019, yet he’s six spots higher. At the very least, Henry should be higher than Chubb.
It’s true Henry hasn’t done much through the air during his career, but he more than makes up for it with his ability to take games over on the ground thanks to his rare combination of size, strength and speed, all of which were on full display last year when Henry carried the Titans through the playoffs.
That’s right, Henry literally ran the Titans into the AFC Championship Game in what is considered a passing league while most of the more dual-threat backs on this list were watching from their couch.
What makes his production from last season even more impressive is that the Alabama product not only missed one game, but he also faced a league-leading 188 eight-plus-man boxes last season.
Teams knew what was coming and still couldn’t stop him, whether that be a result of great blocking upfront, Henry’s elite ability to break tackles and gain yards after contact, or both.
We certainly understand the importance of receiving production for backs in this day and age, but the first responsibility of a running back is to actually run the football — and nobody in the NFL does that better than Henry.
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