[Baltimore Sun] Can Ravens RB Derrick Henry rush for 2,000 yards this season?
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Derrick Henry tramples over, through and in-between defenses at such an historic rate that his dodgy humbleness is borderline comedic.
In 2020, after becoming the eighth running back to eclipse 2,000 yards in a single season, he lambasted his fumble when speaking to Tennessee Titans reporters. In a scrum with Ravens media after beating the Commanders this month, he used the word “humble” five times to answer three questions about their surging offense. After an 81-yard run against Tampa Bay, Henry called himself “slow” on social media for not scoring despite clocking his top speed since 2021.
“To me,” coach John Harbaugh said, “that’s what greatness looks like.”
His greatness thus far is looking like a bargain for Baltimore, which signed Henry for two years, $16 million in March. As it stands, he’s on pace to become the second Raven to eclipse 2,000 yards in a season and the first player to do it twice.
At 873 yards through seven weeks, he’s hurtling toward 2,120 yards. That would edge Eric Dickerson’s 40-year-old record of 2,105 yards and crown Henry the all-time single-season rushing leader.
“I don’t really try to think about that too much,” Henry said. “I just try to focus on doing my job and being better and better every week. I don’t really try to get into the statistics of things.”
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There are eight players in NFL history who have rushed for over 2,000 yards in a single season. Here’s the venerable list: O.J Simpson (1973), Eric Dickerson (1984), Barry Sanders (1997), Terrell Davis (1998), Jamal Lewis (2003), Chris Johnson (2009), Adrian Peterson (2012) and Henry (2020).
“He’s there,” quarterback Lamar Jackson said. “I feel like he has a great chance of achieving that. I think he can do it.”
Much of Henry’s brilliance has been a result of him turning nothing into something. He handily leads the league in rushing yards over expected with 363, according to Next Gen Stats; Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles is next closest with 226. And Henry is only the third player to bounce multiple 80-plus yard runs through seven games, after Sanders (twice) and Johnson.
On the flip side, Henry’s usage rate could oscillate as the season wears on. Harbaugh said at the start of the season that they didn’t bring in Henry to get 30 carries a game.
Heading into a Week 8 matchup with the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, he’s averaging 19.14 touches per game. “It’s not 30,” Harbaugh quipped on Wednesday. “30 is kind of a high number, I protected myself on that.”
Ravens running back Derrick Henry is on pace to run for more than 2,000 yards. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)
The league’s rushing yards leader has had one game with 25 carries (against Dallas) and a pair at 24. The rest have stayed under 19. His fewest — and least substantial outing — was Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs, finishing with 46 yards on 13 carries.
“I’m happy with [the 19.14 average] because it means we’ve had a lot of carries in the fourth quarter, which means that we have the lead,” Harbaugh said. “And that’s what you want. I also feel like over the course of the season it’s gonna be OK if it’s not 19 or 25. When it’s 10 or 12 that’s OK, too.”
Added Henry: “I just think that speaks about the offense that we have, the dynamic players we have. … As far as touches, I don’t try to worry about that. If I get an opportunity, I try to make the best of it.”
The backfield complement of Justice Hill and looming return of Keaton Mitchell, who tore his ACL last season and returned to practice Wednesday, could impact Henry’s volume — which could potentially keep him from the record books.
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But Henry is doing more with less, like rushing for 169 yards on 15 carries against the Buccaneers or 199 on 24 versus the Bills. The back of his football card from his first 2,000-yard season shows 10 games with 100-plus yards on the ground. Two for over 200, which he’s already come close to once this year.
Consider this: the 2020 Titans fed him 23.63 times per game — twice going above 30 carries and only four times falling into the teens. Every other 2,000-yard rusher has finished the season above 20 attempts per game. Sanders was the most efficient of the group with 2,053 yards on 20.94 attempts. He was also the closest to Henry in age at 29 years old.
At this juncture, with 12 weeks of football left to be played, the 30-year-old Henry is running the ball at an unprecedented rate.
“He’s named ‘King Henry’ for a reason,” fullback Pat Ricard said, “and it’s just a dream to have him here.”
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
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