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Through his first five seasons in the NFL, Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry has primarily made a name for himself for his work on the ground. The NFL’s leading rusher in 2019 and 2020 has a combination of size and speed that makes game planning for a nightmare.
And after two weeks, the former Heisman winner leads the league in carries (52) and rushing yards (240), aided by a 35-carry, 182-yard performance in Sunday’s overtime win in Seattle.
But a closer look at his statistics shows that the Titans are perhaps trying to get Henry even more involved in the offense.
Through the first two games, the 27-year-old has nine receptions for 74 yards. To this point, Henry’s career-high is 19 receptions, set last season.
“Derrick caught all the ones that we threw to him and really that allowed us to get usually a first down,” head coach Mike Vrabel said to the media on Monday. “His ability to catch the football and get up north and south in those checkdown opportunities is good.”
The uptick in receptions coincided with the team promoting former tight ends coach Todd Downing to offensive coordinator, replacing Arthur Smith in late January.
Downing’s last opportunity as an offensive coordinator came in 2017 with the then-Oakland Raiders, where running backs Marshawn Lynch, DeAndre Washington, and Jalen Richard accounted for approximately 23 percent of the team’s total receptions.
Clearly Downing likes to throw to his backs, which could mean that Henry’s career-high six catches were more than just an aberration.
The Titans, who finished in the bottom half of the league in passing yards in 2020, have been looking to provide quarterback Ryan Tannehill with more weapons.
The addition of Julio Jones this offseason will provide a significant boost, as the 32-year-old hauled in six catches for 128 yards on Sunday. But Henry can also be a valuable asset out of the backfield, as he proved on Sunday.
Henry has historically never been a big-time receiver — even dating back to his days at Alabama — but he has a 90 percent catch rate with an average 8.2 yards per reception in the early goings of the 2021 season.
Henry and the Titans will host the Colts on Sunday, a defense allowing 10.0 yards-per-attempt so far.
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