Tennessee Titans running back D’Onta Foreman stepped up in a big way this past season when Derrick Henry went down to injury, which no doubt helped the Titans navigate the final nine games of the season en route to winning the AFC South and the conference’s No. 1 seed.
Foreman, who wasn’t on an NFL roster before the Titans brought him in in the wake of Henry’s injury, was able to outperform Tennessee’s other backfield options, ultimately leading to his becoming the starter.
The 25-year-old tallied 566 rushing yards on 133 carries, an average of 4.3 yards per carry, and added three touchdowns and four runs of 20-plus yards.
In the playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Foreman provided a spark, tallying a team-high 66 yards, including a 45-yard scamper that put the Titans in position for a touchdown before one of Ryan Tannehill’s three picks.
When looking back on his season, Foreman feels like he proved he belongs and also expressed his gratitude for the Titans giving him a chance, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.
“I don’t really want to say I proved it to myself – I always felt like that was in me already,” Foreman said. “I just had to prove it to everybody else. And I think I got the opportunity to do that thanks to the Titans, thanks to Coach Vrabel and Jon (Robinson) and everybody for believing in me and trusting in me and giving me this opportunity and this platform to show what I’m able to do.
“I’m just so thankful and so grateful. Like I said before, God is good, and I want to continue to show people that I can play in this league. I can be a good running back, and I can go out there and ball.”
It has been a long road to this point for Foreman. After being drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft, Foreman tore his Achilles and it looked like he might not have a future in the NFL for a few years until he landed with the Titans.
Now, because of his impressive performance in 2021, Foreman should garner interest around the league and get an opportunity to start elsewhere when he officially becomes a free agent.
There’s no doubt Tennessee would love to hang on to Foreman and have him serve as Henry’s backup next season, but it might prove difficult to keep him if he has a chance at a bigger role elsewhere, something the Titans can’t promise him when The King is healthy.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel touched on Foreman’s 2021 showing, while also talking about his status as a pending free agent.
“D’Onta has an expiring contract, and we will see how that fits in to what we are going to do going forward,” Vrabel said. “Those are conversations (GM) Jon (Robinson) and I will have. He was fun to coach. He did a nice job for us, certainly made the best of his opportunity.”
Foreman’s contract will officially expire when the new league year begins on March 16 at 4 p.m. ET, which is also the official start of free agency. The legal tampering period begins two days earlier on March 14.
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