Photo taken from: www.baltimoreravens.com/

RB Derrick Henry

Shawn Hubbard / Baltimore Ravens Photos

Derrick Henry, the last Running Back to break the 2000-yard mark in a season, tied for the longest run from scrimmage at 99 yards (along with Cowboy great Tony Dorsett), the owner of two Rushing Titles and an Offensive Player of the Year accolade is now 30-years old. Since we are in an era where runners are typically obsolesced around age 27 and considering that his draft team the Tennessee Titans has opted to trade him away, we might think he’s winding down. However, Henry and the Baltimore Ravens have something else in mind.

He comes from a legacy of elite running backs with the Titans franchise, tracing its lineage to the Houston Oilers. Historic power backs like Earl Campbell and fan favorite Eddie George established the team’s reputation for hard-nosed football. Moreover, the Titans are also the only team in the NFL that can boast having 2 of the 8 running backs who are members of the 2000-yard club (Derrick Henry and Chris Johnson). Being a part of that team culture helped establish the ‘King Henry’ brand. What is that brand? A powerful, intimidating, workhorse that routinely manhandles defenders with power running, incredible upper body strength, and a 6’3” frame accented by a long, churning rushing style. His size and strength are unique and set him apart from his contemporaries. He may be the last of the old-school bell-cow backs who put the team on his shoulders and head up-field. I’m talking about the likes of Campbell, John Riggins, Larry Csonka, and “The Bus” Jerome Bettis. All of them are powerful runners, known for punishing tacklers.

Next up is the Baltimore Ravens

It’s understandable in this era of offensive strategy that the Titans opted to move away from Derrick Henry. The current NFL is very pass-centric, calling on running backs to have high route participation while being prolific receivers. Quick, fleet-footed backs with excellent hands are the standard for today. Henry is none of the above. Based on this and his age, the fit simply wasn’t there anymore. This is where the Baltimore Ravens come in.

Last season, the Ravens had the number 1 rushing offense for attempts and yards. However, it turns out that MVP Quarterback Lamar Jackson led the team in:

• • Total rushing yards

• • Rushing yards per attempt (minimum 6.25 carries per team game).

• • Rushing yards per game

Going forward, it looks like the team wants to augment that running game out of the backfield, while enhancing their passing. At the passing end, Baltimore had the 2^nd fewest passing attempts across the league, and along with Cleveland were the only teams with sub-3700 yards passing who made it to the post season. This should not be viewed as a sustainable situation.

While in the playoffs, centralizing the offense so heavily through the Quarterback proved to be a liability. In the Divisional Round Jackson struggled with his Completion Percentage (going 20 of 37, for 54%) and had a clutch turnover. At the same time, the Baltimore Ravens just never seemed to get the run game started. Knowing that so much goes through Lamar’s hands kind of makes it easy for Defensive Coordinators to scheme for the Ravens. The Divisional round opponent (the Chiefs) had a defense that was more than equipped to get the job done.

* All data sourced for this article is from Pro-Football-Reference.com

The data above shows both the struggles in the passing game and that the run game was almost absent. Lamar carried the ball as much as the rest of the team combined and that was only 8 attempts. Additionally, there were two fumbles lost, showing a combination of poor execution along with the poor play-calling. So the question of the day… is the addition of Derrick Henry intended to solve these problems? Can he deliver against expectations at the ripe old age of 30, going into his 9^th year?

As I said earlier, Henry is a throwback to the all-time greats of yester-year, several of which had 9^th seasons that most running backs wish they could have.

• • Jim Brown won the rushing title and landed an MVP in season 9

• • Barry Sanders became the 3^rd running back in history to gain 2000+ yards rushing

• • Adrian Peterson returned from a 2^nd major injury to become the oldest back to capture the running back triple crown

• • Walter Payton was just getting started on his 2^nd career peak with over 1400 yards in his 9^th season

• • Tiki Barber, Frank Gore & Jerome Bettis were still making over 1000 yards and Pro Bowl appearances

Is Derrick Henry Ready to live up to that pantheon of greats?

I’m feeling good about that. He led the league in carries the last 2 seasons and finished 2^nd toward the rushing title in both of those years. He’s still performing at a high level and brings to the table exactly what the Ravens need. And what they need is… to establish an offensive scheme that builds around complimentary football, as to enhance their passing offense. Below are the areas they need to improve in the passing game:

Accuracy: Lamar was 25^th best for “On Target %” combined with being 23^rd in “Bad Throw %” (in a bad way). He will benefit greatly from practicing and playing more as a passer.

Pressure Relief: Baltimore had the 30^th ranked “Pocket time” at 2.7 seconds. It’s hard to say if this is a problem of slow processing by the passer or from defenses having an easy time putting together coverage packages. Moreover, opponents get away with scheming almost exclusively for Lamar, making him the 8^th most blitzed Quarterback and the 9^th most sacked despite his mobility. You can see that he was the number 1 scrambler last season, just trying to stay ahead of defenses. Diversifying the play-calling should make a difference this season.

Play Calling: The Ravens were 28^th in calling “Play Action” passes last season with the 2^nd most “RPO”. This makes their offense very predictable and puts a lot of demand and defensive focus on Jackson. Derrick Henry as a volume rusher would make play-action passing a viable play-type for the Baltimore Ravens. Linebackers and edge rushers would be challenged to account for Henry bearing down on them. He can run up the middle, around the end, in the center of the field, and from scoring position…

• • 48% of his career touchdowns have come at 0-3 yards making him a valuable tool for clutch scoring

• • 47% of them have been tying or go-ahead scores

• • Even last season, 9 of his 12 touchdowns came when the team was within 0-7 pts
    
    • 10 were in the Red Zone
    • 6 of those came at the goal-line from 0-3 yds

Final Thoughts

The King’s presence adds a whole new dimension to the Baltimore offense. The adjustments to schemes and play calling that the Ravens ought to adopt can be facilitated by the complimentary football that an old-school workhorse like Derrick Henry offers. John Harbaugh and company just need to put him to work, while opening up their passing game. These factors could be the missing pieces that will provide a more sustainable offense and enable a deep run in the playoffs… says me.